New Duke dining director Robert Coffey

Durham, NC - Robert Coffey, who has directed award-winning college dining programs during a 24-year career, has been named the new director of Duke's dining services, which delivers 18,500 meals a day to students, faculty, staff and visitors. Coffey will begin at Duke Feb. 27.

"We have set a goal to elevate the Duke dining experience to be the world-class equal of the educational experience," said Rick Johnson, assistant vice president of student affairs for housing, dining and residence life. "Robert is the right person to lead us there."

Coffey was hired after a national search that included students, dining services personnel, faculty, senior administrators and others. Because a majority of the meals served go to students, their input was central to the hiring process, Johnson said.

"Students were very impressed by Robert's commitment to incorporating student feedback and his extensive dining management track record," said Duke Student Government President Pete Schork. "We're looking forward to working with Robert."

Coffey understands the challenges associated with meeting the varied needs of a large and diverse population with high expectations. Under his leadership at Virginia Tech, that operation finished in the top 3 of The Princeton Review's Best Campus Food rankings five years running, including No. 1 rankings in 2008 and 2010. The dining team also received the prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine in 2009.

"The dining experience plays such a major role in campus life and I'm very anxious to explore how Duke Dining can continually provide high-quality services while helping build community in collaboration with the new house system," Coffey said. "I feel privileged to have the opportunity to serve this great university and campus community. I look forward to getting to know the student body and collaborating with student dining advisory committee and the many talented people in Student Affairs to exceed our customer expectations."

Coffey is currently resident district manager for the University of South Carolina, where he manages a $30 million operating budget, numerous venues, an award-winning catering department and a team of 1,100 employees that serves more than 6 million meals a year. Prior to his current position, Coffey worked in dining services at Virginia Tech, Greensboro College, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Longwood College in Virginia. He holds certificates from the Culinary Institute of America, the National Restaurant Association, the Food Service Association and many other organizations.

"We've made great strides in dining services over the past couple of years," said Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs. "We've got a lot of big projects underway that will require creative thinking and execution as we renovate spaces and introduce new vendors. We're looking forward to having Robert's leadership as part of the Duke team."