Chef Noble Masi, C.E.P.C., C.M.B.

Noble Masi was a professor in baking and pastry arts at The Culinary Institute of America. Chef Masi was one of the college’s senior professors, joining the faculty in 1965 when the campus was in New Haven, CT. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Baking Department, Coordinator of the Progressive Learning Year System, Director of Continuing Education, as well as Director of Education. In 2000 when Chef Masi retired from the CIA he was appointed an Ambassador for the school. In 2006, along with three of his colleges, he was appointed as a CIA Heritage Professor. Chef Masi remained active with the college though his role as an Ambassador and Heritage Professor throughout the years and was especially proud of his 50 years of association with the school before his passing.

Chef Masi received the American Academy of Chefs Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. In 2008, he was presented with the ACF’s first-ever Joseph Amendola Award honoring master bakers and pastry chefs who have dedicated their career to their profession and mentoring future baking and pastry professionals. He was named Chef of the Year by the ACF in 1999. In 1996 he earned the ACF’s Professionalism Award, and was the organization’s Educator of the Year in 1982.

He was introduced to the foodservice industry through his family’s bakery catering business and added to his knowledge at the Food & Maritime Trades High School in New York City. He then studied at the American Institute of Baking and became a member of the American Society of Baking Engineers. In addition to teaching at the CIA, Chef Masi was executive chef at Point o’ Pines Camp for Girls in Brant Lake, NY for 26 seasons.

Chef Masi was a member of the American Academy of Chefs (the ACF’s honor society) and the Order of the Golden Toque. He was a Certified Executive Pastry Chef (C.E.P.C.), Certified Master Baker (C.M.B.), and Certified Hospitality Educator (C.H.E.). Chef Masi served as chairman of the Retail Bakers Association’s Master Bakers Exam.

He served as the original program administrator for the ACF Master Chef Certification Program and founded the Mid-Hudson Culinary Association, where he served as Chairman of the Board. He has also served two terms as national ACF treasurer.

The author of Baking Fundamentals, Chef Masi held an associate degree in business and a bachelor of science degree in hotel and restaurant management from the University of New Haven in New Haven, CT.

Chef Noble Masi was a very passionate, loving individual. He loved life in every sense of the word. He enjoyed spending time with family, friends, colleagues and students alike. I had never met a person who loved and enjoyed his work as much as he did. Chef Masi was also the most positive optimistic person I had ever known. There was not a challenge, problem or situation too big for him to take on, solve or overcome. The word NO was not in Chef Noble Masi’s vocabulary.