Frederick N. Ferrara is a Certified Executive Chef and Certified Culinary Educator with the American Culinary Federation and a Certified Hospitality Educator from the American Hotel and Motel Association. He is a 1968 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with over 38 years of kitchen experience in the hospitality industry. Chef Ferrara has traveled and worked around the country and around the world, continually honing and refining his culinary skills and repertoire. His experience has included cruise ships, hotels and restaurants in the commercial sector and retirement centers and collage feeding in the non-commercial sector.

Prior to joining the faculty at the nationally renowned Culinary Arts Program at Joliet Junior College, he worked and taught in Palm Beach County, Florida for seven years. While teaching for the Florida Culinary Institute, Chef Ferrara was instrumental in developing the very successful program of over a dozen hands on "short courses" for cooking enthusiasts and is working to develop a similar program at Joliet Junior College.

Chef Ferrara is a devoted family man with two grade school age daughters and is a certified soccer coach and division coordinator. He is the co-founder of the Louis Joliet Chapter of the American Culinary Federation and currently serves as Chapter President, Newsletter Editor and Culinary Competition Chair and in 1995 was chosen as the chapters first Chef of the Year. He chairs the Annual Great Chefs Tasting Party for United Cerebral Palsy. Since 1992 he has been a coach/advisor for student competition teams in both hot food cookery and the Culinary Knowledge Bowl and, since 1996, has served as the National Committee Chair for this prestigious student event. To keep his students up to date, Chef Ferrara competes as often as possible and has received awards in Mystery Basket, Tableside and Contemporary competitions.