Midd Briefs Dining Services Director Receives Recognition

Author: Nicholas Emery

Director of Dining Services Peter J. Napolitano was recently voted the 2002-2003 president-elect of the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS). The NACUFS is an association of campus dining departments at institutions of higher education in the United States, Canada and abroad.
Napolitano brings 28 years of food service experience to the position. He first served as a student employee at James Madison University's dining services, and subsequently became the assistant director of dining services for University of Pennsylvania. He has held the position of director of dining services at the University of Rochester, Dartmouth College and, since 1997, Middlebury College.
Middlebury College Dining Services, under Napolitano's leadership, has won several NACUFS Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards, and Middlebury College received an Ivy Award of Distinction from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine in 1999.
His new position is a three-year term, during which he will serve three different roles: president-elect, president and past-president. Napolitano's responsibilities include serving as a member of the board of directors, as well as serving on the executive and finance sub-committees. He will also direct various industry workshops at American colleges and universities. Napolitano summarized his job as the "spokesperson around the country" for the NACUFS.
When asked whether his new position will affect his work on campus, Napolitano replied that he will continue in full capacity as director of Middlebury's Dining Services and that when he is away on business he has full confidence in the capabilities of his staff.
While attending a NACUFS conference in 1979 Napolitano made it his goal to one day become the president of the Association; 23 years later he has achieved this dream. He expresses excitement at having "the opportunity to help others in the profession, and give back some of what I received."