Thao Rich (she/her)

Thao.Rich@jwu.edu

Biography

Thao Rich’s area of expertise is cookies, as she is known as the “Cookie Goddess” by her colleagues, and she has a cult cookie following inside the JWU community.

Aside from teaching Cookies & Petits Fours, she enjoys teaching a wide range of pastry skills from basic foundations to cakes to plated desserts. She enjoys tapping into her Asian heritage by co-advising the Cooking Asia Club; she especially enjoys teaching and molding freshmen students with organized and detailed classroom demonstrations infused with business sense and everyday life skills.

A two-time alum of JWU, Rich earned a bachelor’s in science in Baking & Pastry Arts in 2007. After graduating, she honed her skills in prominent Boston-area restaurants and bakeries. In 2011, she began her teaching career at Le Cordon Bleu in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This facilitated her return to Johnson & Wales as an instructor and in 2025, she earned her M.S. in Food Systems Innovation & Leadership.

Outside of the university, Rich enjoys being a mom to two boys. When she is not baking, she enjoys cooking and eating international cuisines, crafts, home improvement projects and yoga.

"Each student has a different takeaway from every demo, lesson or course. A former student returned to say hello one semester and said that her a-ha moment in my class was when I described the importance of freshly ground black pepper as opposed to using pre-ground pepper. It struck me that a conversational tangent during a demo could be one of the most memorable moments a student takes from my class. Each individual has such a different experience in what could be a demo I've done dozens of times; this moment of reminiscence between myself and this student really brought me clarity and joy."

Education

M.S., Johnson & Wales University
Food Systems Innovation & Leadership

B.S., Johnson & Wales University
Baking & Pastry Arts