History

Arthur C. Avery (1915 - 1998) dedicated a significant part of his life to teaching and research. He is considered a pioneer in the area of layout and design of foodservice operations. In fact the Avery Design System, which traces the workflow from start to finish with equipment designed to be used the maximum amount of time, is still taught today.

For many years he served on the faculty in the Department of Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management at Purdue University. In addition to his teaching and mentoring duties, where many former students consider him first-rate, Avery wrote or contributed to four textbooks and over 350 journal and newspaper articles. In addition, he helped design numerous Navy kitchens including those for nuclear submarines, destroyers, and PT-boats; he was also involved in designing the kitchen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

In honor of his many contributions to the industry, the HTM Department named the Foodservice Research Center after him. The laboratory is dedicated to foodservice research in the areas of foodservice equipment, design and engineering, and product development.

Barbara Almanza, an associate professor in the department, was the first director of the Avery Foodservice Research Laboratory (1995-1999). Under her stewardship, the laboratory underwent a major renovation that included new flooring and wall tiles, reconfiguration and installation of a new ventilation system, considerable rewiring, and replacement of most of the commercial kitchen equipment. In May 1999, Richard Ghiselli, an associate professor in the department, was appointed the laboratory's new director. He served in that position until August 2003 when the current director, Doug Nelson, was appointed to the position.