Melina Kelson is associate dean of Baking and Pastry Arts at CIA, where she teaches future bakers and pastry chefs to transform simple ingredients into artful, delicious expressions. A Certified Master Baker, she is known for her deep expertise and creative leadership.
With more than two decades in culinary education, she previously taught at both the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago and Kendall College, where she spearheaded artisan bread and Viennoiserie programming, led sustainability initiatives, and integrated wood-fired baking.
Kelson also held leadership roles at the Bread Bakers Guild of America, where she developed certification programs, directed WheatStalk and Camp Bread conferences, and shaped the Guild’s educational vision through a decade of board service. Previously, she was the baker/owner of Bootleg Bâtard and The Edible Complex, a pop-up bakery and catering company in Skokie, IL, and has held operational and pastry and baking roles at numerous Chicago-area venues.
A frequent industry presenter and consultant, Kelson has trained food scientists at General Mills and led wheat trials with the University of Wisconsin-Madison that resulted in a new varietal, patented in 2025—with all royalties funding continued research in organic grains that can thrive in a changing climate.
Her writing appears in publications such as bake, BreadLines, Pastry & Baking North America, Flavor & the Menu, and the Chicago Tribune. As an industry expert, she has edited and reviewed many books, including From the Wood Fired Oven; Bread and Bread: A Baker’s Book of Techniques and Recipes; and Modernist Bread. She is also featured in dozens of videos for the National Honey Board and California Raisin Marketing Board and Wayne Gisslen’s Professional Baking. Her leadership in sustainable agriculture has been featured in Chicago Magazine and, among other contributions, led to the creation of a community apiary and a community teaching farm.
Kelson earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Ithaca College, graduating cum laude. She is a lifelong learner, champion of bakers and committed to community building through sustainable measures.