Master Baker to Present for Lecture Series, Work With Students

Master Baker Didier Rosada, one of the most respected professionals in the field of artisan bread baking, will visit Pennsylvania College of Technology's campus Oct. 24-26 as part of the William C. Butler Lecture Series.

During his visit, Rosada will work extensively with students in the college's School of Hospitality in hands-on laboratories.

On Oct. 26, he will offer a presentation on artisan bread baking from 10 to 11 a.m. in the Hager Lifelong Education Center, Room B132. The presentation is free and open to the public.

Rosada will also present a Bread Bakers Guild of America Master Class titled "The Art of Pre-Fermentation" on Oct. 25 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Thompson Professional Development Center, Mountain Laurel Room. All Penn College students and employees are invited to attend, and should bring their college IDs.

Rosada was official coach for Baking Team USA in 2005 when it earned a gold medal at the Coupe du Monde de Boulangerie in Paris, and he was the unofficial trainer for the 1996 team, which took first place in the breads category of the prestigious competition. He also helped train the world champion Team USA 1999 and the silver medalist Team USA 2002.

He is vice president of operations at Uptown Bakers, which serves customers all over the Washington, D.C., area, and created his own consulting company to continue to help the baking industry in the United States and abroad.

Before working for Uptown Bakers, he was head instructor for the San Francisco Baking Institute and developed and taught the bread curriculum when the National Baking Center, Minneapolis, was created in 1996. There, he also supervised various research projects.

Rosada has contributed many technical articles for newsletters and baking magazines, and his formulas are considered by the industry to set the standards of quality in artisan baking.

Rosada began his baking career at age 15 with technical training at a regional French professional school and an apprenticeship under a local baker. He went on to work for Club Med, where he climbed through the ranks from staff baker to opening new and remodeled bakeries at the company's resorts.

He later returned to France to study at the prestigious Institute National de Boulangerie-Patisserie in Rouen, where, in 1995, he was awarded a Brevet de Maitrise a degree we would call a "master's in baking."

The lecture series is a tribute to Butler, who served as Penn College's dean of hospitality from 1994 until his death in December 2002.

For more information about the School of Hospitality at Penn College, visit online or call (570) 327-4505. For information about Penn College, visit on the Web, e-mail or call toll-free (800) 367-9222.