Dr. Maryann Tebben is dean of the School of Food Studies and Liberal Arts at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). In this role, she is responsible for the curriculum, instruction, and program development of the college’s food studies and liberal arts and the Global Cuisines and Cultures study abroad program.
Prior to joining CIA, she was a professor of French and the director of the Center for Food and Resilience at Bard College-Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA, where she taught courses on French Language and Literature and Food Studies for nearly 25 years.
While there, Dr. Tebben designed and supervised the interdisciplinary Food Studies major, including a study abroad semester at the Umbra Institute in Perugia, Italy, and coordinated faculty participation from all academic divisions. In addition, she oversaw campus food and sustainability initiatives, including a new composting program in the dining hall, hands-on educational events and tastings, the campus farm, and its maple-sugaring operation.
She also served as faculty director for the Certificate in Food Studies in the Open Society University Network and designed and co-taught the core course with colleagues from National Sun-Yat Sen University (Taiwan) and Central European University (Austria). She taught the online section of this course to students in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Taiwan, Hungary, and the United States.
Dr. Tebben has written extensively on food history and the relationship of food and cultural identity, including authoring three books: Sauces: A Global History (2014), Savoir-Faire: A History of French Food (2020), and Food Cultures of France (2021).
The creator of the ThinkFOOD conference at Simon’s Rock, she also chaired 11 annual conferences, bringing together scholars, activists, and food producers from across Massachusetts and the Northeast for presentations and workshops on crucial issues in the food system.
She was honored in 2024 with the Richard C. Drumm Sr. Award for service to the Bard College-Simon’s Rock and in 2025 with the WISE (Women in Smart Energy) Award-Project/Initiative for the Center for Food and Resilience in 2025.
Dr. Tebben earned her PhD in French literature from the University of Southern California and her BA in French and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame.