A life's work in hospitality education

Professor David Foskett OBE MBE CMA FIH BEd (Hons) FRCCA HMCGC is an influential leader in hospitality education, training and professional development, with a career spanning higher education leadership, international consultancy, academic publishing and sector service. As former Dean and Head of the London School of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of West London, he is widely recognised for advancing hospitality education in the United Kingdom and internationally.

A member of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and the Craft Guild of Chefs, and a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, he has advised extensively on higher and further education. His research and consultancy work has supported major corporations, small businesses, private households, hotels, restaurants, royal palaces, colleges and universities. He has led numerous inspections achieving excellent and outstanding recognition in further and higher education, including an Ofsted judgement of outstanding in all areas in 2013.

As co-author of leading textbooks — Practical Cookery Levels 1, 2 and 3, Theory of Hospitality and Catering, Food and Beverage Management and Hospitality Supervision — his work has sold more than two million copies and is used in 140 countries. He has also supported education projects and charitable causes, helping to raise well over £2 million, including the Clink Charity, which educates offenders before release to reduce reoffending.

He continues to work as a consultant in hospitality services, hospitality education and training, and restaurant management, and works closely with the International Institute of Hotel Management in India — founded by Dr Suborno Bose — contributing to the Young Chef Olympiad, the International Hospitality Council and the International College of Distinguished Fellows.