Thao J Rich (she/her)
Associate Instructor College of Food Innovation & Technology Department of Baking & Pastry Providence
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.
An two-time alum of JWU, Chef 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 Master’s in Science in Food Systems Innovation & Leadership.
Outside of the university, Chef 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.
Education
MS, Johnson & Wales University
Food Systems Innovation & Leadership
BS, Johnson & Wales University
Baking & Pastry Arts
CITI Certification
Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative
Food Safety Manager Certification (FSM)
National Registry of Food Safety Professionals
Certified Executive Pastry Chef (CEPC)
American Culinary Federation
Clementine Pop Up Dinner presented by JWU Faculty, “Pop Up Dinner at Clementine Cocktail Bar,” Clementine Cocktail Bar, JWU, Providence, RI, United States. (January 21, 2025).
Camp Bread: C is for Camp Cookies, “Camp Bread 2024,” Bread Baker’s Guild of America, Providence, RI, United States. (March 5, 2024).