Chef Jeff Bricker to Retire After 28 Years of Culinary Excellence at Ivy Tech

For nearly three decades, Chef Jeff Bricker has been the heart and soul of Ivy Tech Community College’s culinary program—first as a student, then as an instructor, department chair, and visionary leader. As he prepares to retire this summer, his legacy is etched into the stainless-steel workstations of the state-of-the-art kitchens he helped design, the success stories of alumni across Indiana, and the newly minted School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management that will bear his imprint for years to come.

From Family Restaurants to Fine Dining: A First-Gen Journey

Bricker’s story is quintessentially Ivy Tech. A first-generation college student raised in a family of restaurant entrepreneurs, he had never really considered higher education. 

“I was one of five boys growing up, and my parents never went to college,” Bricker recalled. “It really wasn’t part of our conversation at home. I just worked in restaurants after school every day and never really thought about college."

His culinary career began in the family’s quick-service restaurant, where his worldview expanded after he received his first catering request. One that left him stumped, as it was an event beyond their standard fare.

“I didn't know how to go about that, and I was kind of challenged,” he said. “All I knew were the menus I’d been exposed to, and I realized there was so much more to learn.”

That moment led him to Ivy Tech in the 1990s—not for a degree, but for a single class. What began as a quest for technical skills became a life-altering education. 

Bricker shares that his instructors recognized potential even he didn’t see. He slowly but surely began taking more and more classes as – what he thought – a non-degree-seeking student.

"The program chair said to me, ‘You’re almost done with your degree,’" Bricker laughed. "I said, ‘What do you mean? I didn’t come here for a degree!’"

A study-abroad trip to France exposed him to classical techniques and the artistry of fine dining, which he later brought to Greenwood through his own restaurant. 

“Taking your time with a multi-course meal—that was transformational,” Bricker described of his study abroad learning experience. “I wanted to share that experience of a multi-course, classical French meal with my community.”

After unexpectedly completing an associate degree in culinary arts, Bricker operated a successful fine dining and catering business alongside his wife. Over the course of their business’ tenure, he served over 2,000 weddings and events, while also returning to Ivy Tech as an adjunct instructor.

But after 15 years in the exhausting grind of restaurant ownership, he faced a crossroads. 

“My wife and I realized it wasn’t sustainable with three young kids,” he said. “When the chance to go full-time at Ivy Tech came, we sold the business, and I took the job. I never looked back.”

What began as accidental education became a lifelong pursuit. After selling his catering business and joining Ivy Tech full-time in 2002, Bricker—the once-reluctant student—kept stacking degrees, earning a bachelor's in business administration from Indiana Wesleyan and a master's in adult and community education from Ball State University.

The Architect of a Culinary School

Bricker's transition from industry to academia began modestly, as a full-time instructor sharing hard-won kitchen wisdom. But his entrepreneurial instincts soon reshaped his role.

"Coming from owning businesses, I initially struggled with institutional pace," he admitted. “I ran my own business for years, so I was my own business office, my own human resources, my marketing – all that stuff. And so when I first came here [to Ivy Tech], I really had to adapt to more of a bureaucracy."

Yet his industry-tested perspective proved invaluable. Within two years, when the program chair position opened in 2004, Bricker stepped up – bringing a restaurateur's eye to curriculum development and a caterer's hustle to program growth.

"Suddenly, I wasn't only teaching sauces and butchery," he reflected. "I had to rethink everything – facilities, community partnerships, even how we defined success."

This pivot marked the beginning of his legacy at Ivy Tech and transformed the College’s culinary footprint.

For years, the Indianapolis program operated out of two aging kitchens in the North Meridian Center (NMC). 

“We were vastly outgrowing it,” Bricker said. "Those kitchens were 40 years old, originally built as a hospital cafeteria," he recalled. "We couldn't teach modern techniques with antiques."

After seven years of rejected proposals for off-campus sites, a miracle arrived: The former Stouffer's Hotel became available, right next to campus, and the Lilly Endowment granted Ivy Tech $23 million to create a culinary flagship.

Building the Dream: How A $23 Million Kitchen Revolutionized Culinary Education & Indianapolis Campus

When Bricker first toured the abandoned building that formerly was known as the Stouffers Hotel in 2010, he saw past the outdated systems. Bricker envisioned it as the future home of Indiana's premier culinary program.

"We spent five months with a kitchen design consultant, planning what would be the dream kitchens of the future,” Bricker said. "What could we do that would provide growth opportunities for the program, for enrollment, for our students. Our students deserve the very best we can give them."

The 2012 move to the renovated building, now known as the Conference Center and Culinary Institute, changed everything:

• Nine state-of-the-art kitchens 
• $4 million in food service equipment
• Ample classroom and conference space
• Student-operated bakery cafe and fine-dining restaurant for live customer service training
• Open-lab design allowing public viewing of kitchen work
• Banquet and ballroom space, allowing for external and internal event reservations

For Bricker, the building's true impact was psychological, however.

"When students walk into a professional-grade kitchen every day, they start carrying themselves like professionals,” he noted.

The building’s significance extended even further, as it became a community hub, boosted industry partnerships, and catalyzed program innovations. 

As the gleaming ranges and polished floors enter their second decade, they stand as Bricker's most visible legacy—a physical manifestation of his belief that "excellence isn't aspirational when you build it into the walls."

But his crowning achievement came this year: On July 1, the program officially became the School of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management—a standalone entity within Ivy Tech. 

“It took years of advocacy,” Bricker said. “But now Indiana has a culinary school that’s fully accredited and world-class.”

The Circle of Transformation: Changing Lives—Including Ours

For Bricker, Ivy Tech’s mission to "change lives" was never a one-way street. 

"Our lives are changed in the process of changing others’ lives," he reflected, articulating what became a guiding philosophy for him and his faculty’s teachings. "That’s pretty powerful—and a great way to spend your life."

He witnessed this firsthand with students like Joe Miller, a 2000 graduate who became the youngest executive chef of an Indiana country club before opening Our Table in Bargersville—now ranked among America’s top 100 restaurants. 

"He won gold as a student representing Ivy Tech in the 1990s," Bricker recalled. “Now, he mentors our students today through an externship program,” Bricker said proudly.

Nothing reshaped Bricker’s approach to education like the day he watched Jody May—a visually impaired culinary student—fabricate a bass with precision that surpassed her sighted classmates.

 "I was the faculty member evaluating her practical final," he recalled, the memory still vivid. "When she came to the program, I didn’t understand how she’d do it. Then she butchered that fish cleaner than most others."

The moment that shattered his assumptions came when May cooked a perfect medium-rare New York strip. 

"I asked, ‘How did you know it was done without seeing the thermometer?’" Bricker said. "She just tapped her ear: ‘The sizzle tells me.’" 

May’s answer became a metaphor for Bricker’s own awakening. 

"It stretched me as an educator. We’d been so focused on teaching the ‘right’ way, we’d missed all the other ways brilliance manifests. We went into that class thinking we were teaching her. She ended up teaching us,” Bricker shared. “Moments like that shatter your assumptions about what’s possible."

READ: Confidently Cooking | MasterChef winner Christine Ha teaches virtual cooking class |

^{Bricker on his final international trip as department chair for hospitality administration.}

The same ripple effect unfolded yearly when Second Helpings trainees, many doubting they belonged in any classroom, walked into Ivy Tech’s gleaming kitchens and thrived. 

"Their grit rewires your definition of ‘readiness,’" Bricker said. "Many Second Helpings students have not even graduated high school or have their GED. When they complete their certificate there, that measure of success lets them think, ‘I can do this.’”

Even the international trips—those glittering catalysts of culinary passion—weren’t just for students. Bricker chaperoned six of them, watching wide-eyed learners taste their first proper baguette, but he always returned equally transformed. 

"There’s a student going this May—never flown, never left Indiana. First-gen, like I was. When he realizes, ‘I can navigate this,’ it’ll knock me sideways all over again,” he said with a smile. 

"We don’t just build careers here. We build each other,” he said. “When you see someone realize, ‘I can do this’—that’s the magic.”

Building Excellence with Limited Resources

Perhaps Bricker’s most significant Ivy Tech legacy is his effort to challenge the assumption that limited resources meant limited outcomes, insisting even a community college could cultivate excellence.

"I’ve always had this goal: Let’s go above and beyond. Let’s try to create a culture of excellence where we’re at,” Bricker shared. "We don’t receive the same kind of funding as the big colleges and universities. We have limited resources. How could we have a culture of excellence when you have limited resources? That mindset can really mitigate efforts for success."

Instead of focusing on the problem, he focused on the solutions and overcoming constraints. 

“A culture of excellence leads to student success,” Bricker said. “How do you create a culture of excellence with scarce resources? You go above and beyond anyway.”

His mantra resonated through initiatives like:

• Second Helpings Partnership: Bridging their free culinary training program to Ivy Tech credit. “These are folks who never imagined college was possible,” he said.

• Meet one such student, Tichina Clark-Gamble.

• Study Abroad: Despite fundraising hurdles, he championed annual trips to France and Argentina. “Students return more confident, ready to tackle bigger challenges,” he noted.

• Industry Ties: Strengthening bonds with groups like the American Culinary Federation to ensure curriculum relevance.

“Mediocrity never serves anyone,” Bricker asserted. “Our students deserve the best facilities, the best faculty, and the belief that they belong here.”

The Retirement Chapter: Family and France

As retirement looms, Bricker’s plans are refreshingly simple. He’ll teach online part-time, but prioritize his eight grandchildren—including a newborn due soon—and visits to see his daughter’s family in San Diego.

His final act? Chaperoning one last student trip to France in May. 

“It’s poetic,” he laughed. “I went as a student, now I’ll leave as a teacher.”

What does Bricker hope his legacy will be? “That we kept striving for excellence, even when it wasn’t easy,” he said. “Ivy Tech gave me a purpose I never expected. If I helped a few students find theirs, that’s enough.”

For the thousands he taught, the colleagues he inspired, and the culinary landscape he reshaped, “enough” is an understatement.