Editor at Large, Plate Magazine; Chicago, IL

Chandra Ram '99 is a James Beard- and IACP-nominated cookbook author who cooked and served in restaurants for years before turning to food writing. She writes for a variety of publications and is an editor-at-large for Plate, an award-winning food magazine for chefs. Chandra holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Loyola University Chicago, an associate's degree in culinary arts from The Culinary Institute of America, and has passed the certificate level of the Court of Master Sommeliers exam. She has won multiple awards for her writing and editing, including a dozen Jesse H. Neal awards and the McAllister Editorial Fellowship. She is the vice chair of the James Beard Foundation journalism award committee, the chair of the IACP cookbook awards, and a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and Southern Foodways Alliance. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram: @chandrasplate (Chicago, IL)