The Academic Board is composed of individuals from the hospitality and educational fields and provides strategic direction, assists with policy and regulations matters, academic content, and operation and development of the HRC Culinary Academy.
Members of the Academic Board include:
Mr. Todor Radev
Assoc. Prof Todor Radev, Phd is the rector of International College Albena, located in Dobrich (Bulgaria). Mr. Radev was part of the founding team and was instrumental in establishing the school and developing it into a leading hotel management school. Today, he is responsible for overall operations of International College Albena and aims to maintain the school’s status as Eastern Europe’s premier hotel and tourism program.
Mr. Radev has extensive experience in education and hospitality, most notably as manager of several resorts in Albena, a well-known tourist area in the Black Sea region.
As rector of International College Albena, Mr. Radev is actively involved in the development of the HRC Culinary Academy.
Mr. Cees van der Klip
Mr. van der Klip is the former Dean of the Maastricht (Netherlands) Hotel Management School. During his long career in education, Mr. Van der Klip won a number of awards, most notably the 2004 Eurhodip Award for best educational performance and the President's Award by CHRIE for outstanding achievement in hospitality education. He also received an award by Koninklijke Horeca Nederland for outstanding performance in the Dutch Higher Education for Hotel Management. Mr. Van der Klip currently serves on the Academic board of Eurhodip (www.eurhodip.com), a leading association of European hotel schools. He also acts as the Secretary of the Belgium Council of higher education concerning the accreditation of the Flemish Higher Education.
Mr. Joël Antunes
Mr. Antunes is the chef owner of restaurant Joël, in Atlanta, USA. The restaurant features French cuisine with Mediterranean and Asian influences that Mr. Antunes has perfected while working with some of the world's culinary legends. He has been chef at such prestigious restaurants as Ledoyen and Duquesnoy in Paris, the Hotel Negresco in Nice, worked under celebrated French pastry chef Yves Thuries and served as chef poissonier for the legendary Paul Bocuse in Lyons. Later, he became sous chef at Troisgros in Roanne, France before relocating to Bangkok, Thailand to serve as chef cuisinier at the Oriental Hotel's Normandie Restaurant. After another short stint in France at Marc Meneau's Michelin three-star restaurant in the Hotel Picardy in 1990, Antunes became chef-partner at the critically acclaimed London establishment, Les Saveurs where his culinary prowess earned the restaurant a Michelin star in 1994 and recognition as "Restaurant of the Year" from British magazine Decanter. When the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead began its search for a new chef for their restaurant, the Dining Room, in 1997, famed Chefs Daniel Boulud and Alain Ducasse whole-heartedly recommended Antunes for the job. He served as chef for four years before opening restaurant Joel.