Culinary Lecturer, Ruth Doherty from South Eastern Regional College’s Lisburn Campus, has been named Lecturer of the Year at the Institute of Hospitality Awards 2019, with students Megan Smith and Nathan Corry.

  South Eastern Regional College (SERC) culinary lecturer Ruth Doherty was recently awarded Lecturer of the Year at the Institute of Hospitality Awards 2019.

  Ruth said, “I am in­credibly honoured and humbled to have received this award. I was shocked when I heard my name announced but the encour­agement and support I receive is fantastic - I am surrounded by an excellent team here at SERC, so it truly was a team effort and I would like to thank eve­ryone who was involved in me being named lecturer of the year.”

Ruth has 30 years’ ex­perience in the hospital­ity industry. She trained at Stakis Coylumbridge Aviemore Hotel and was Hotel Duty Manager at Drumkeen Hotel and Restaurant Manager at An­gelo’s Ristorantino, Belfast before she began teaching at SERC.

Level 2 Diploma in Pro­fessional Bakery student Megan Smith said, “We are so happy that Ruth won this award, she re­ally deserves it. She is an excellent lecturer. Ruth is patient, kind and knowl­edgeable about the industry we are training to enter. She won’t settle for any­thing less than perfection. We have learnt so much from her and she has really pushed us to be the best we can be.”

Fellow student Nathan Corry added, “Ruth has been giving me guidance for the WorldSkills UK cu­linary heat rounds in which I will be competing. I am excited about the competi­tion and Ruth has really helped me prepare for the challenge.”

Paul Mercer, the Deputy Head of School for Hospi­tality, Management, Tour­ism and Languages said, “I nominated Ruth because she has proven herself time and time again to be an outstanding lecturer with a plethora of industry knowledge who constantly strives to create unique learning experiences for her students

He continued, “Ruth impressed the panel of judges by providing examples of when she has taken initiative to improve the student’s ex­perience through secur­ing opportunities such as placement for students in Valencia, Spain, assisting and mentoring student companies and network­ing with industry chefs such as Jim Mulholland, Executive chef of Novel­lis who assisted her in mentoring her student, Rachel Carson to Student Culinarian of the year 2018.”

“Ruth’s commitment to the college, her hard work and determination to constantly improve her work and the student’s learning experience made her the ideal candidate for this award and I am thrilled that she was the recipient. It was well deserved.”

Apply now for courses commencing September 2019. For more informa­tion visit www.serc.ac.uk or call 0345 600 7555. Find us on Facebook,