LOCALadk Magazine

56 Spring 2019 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Tucked away in the Adirondack Park is a gem of a college that has had a tremendous impact on the hospitality and culinar y landscape of America. Located on more than 10,000 acres of land, water, and mountains, Paul Smith's College is the gentle giant of these industries integral to the culture of our countr y. In the early 1950s there were few institutions of higher learning with an interest in preparing individ- uals for the hotel trade, but Paul Smith's—recognizing the life's work of the individual who the college is named for— chose to charter its efforts in the areas of forestr y and hotel management. This unlikely combination ser ved to place the tiny college in the limelight. There was a time when there were really only three choices for individuals who sought a career in hotel management: the long road of appren- ticeship, a baccalaureate degree from Cornell University, or two years at Paul Smith's in their hands-on associate degree program. As America's hotel industr y grew, so did the influence of Paul Smith's. In 1980, the college was one of the first in the countr y to offer a degree in Culinar y Arts, and in the late nineties, a baccalaureate in the same major. The graduates of the hospitality and culinar y programs carried a love of the Adiron- dacks, and the unique sense of warm hospitality, into a field of growing importance. To this day that Adirondack influence can be felt across the countr y. Here is a sampling of that influence in the form of Paul Smith's graduates; or, you might say, a bit of the Adirondacks outside the Park. Adirondack Culinary Influencers By Paul Sorgule

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