Michiel Bakker was appointed the sixth president of the Culinary Institute of America. Bakker will assume this role on September 1, 2024.

Michiel Bakker

Bakker succeeds Dr. Tim Ryan, who since starting in the role in 2001 is now the CIA’s longest-serving president. Ryan will move into the new role of chancellor.

For the past 12 years, based in Mountain View, Calif., Bakker has held various global leadership roles at Google. Before joining Google in 2012, Bakker spent 17 years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. in various hotel and global food and beverage operations roles.

He is an active contributor to various advisory boards of organizations including the Yale Center for Customer Insights, the EAT Forum, the World Food Program Innovation Accelerator, and the Beans is How initiative. He is also a member of the James Beard Foundation's Board of Trustees and the Supervisory Board of the Dutch food waste-focused startup Orbisk. In addition, Bakker hosts the Food Lab Talk podcast.