Food safety quality assurance professionals are increasingly in demand to prevent foodborne illnesses and protect public health and safety. Escalating regulatory pressures, complex supply chain issues, heightened consumer awareness and rapid advances in technology require industry professionals to continually update their knowledge.
A Two-Time JWU Alum
Joseph Presler ’03, ’27, M.S. – Food Safety understands the importance of this industry firsthand. Presler is a Food Safety Quality Assurance Director for Buckhead, a specialty meat company and a division of Sysco. Sysco is the global leader in selling, marketing and distributing food and non-food products to restaurants, healthcare and educational facilities, lodging establishments and other customers around the world.
A life-long learner, Presler is a two-time alum of Johnson & Wales University. earning an A.S. in Culinary Arts and Chef Training in 2001 and a B.S. in Food Service Management in 2003 from JWU’s Charleston campus. As Presler seeks to grow and advance in his role at Sysco and within the food safety industry, Presler explains why he chose to return to JWU and what he hopes to accomplish professionally with his degree.
Why Presler Wanted To Earn A Master’s Degree
Presler explains, “I’ve been in the food industry for almost 30 years and in the same role as a Food Safety Quality Assurance Director in the Washington, D.C. area for 12 years. At Sysco, I have been passionate about my role as a train-the-trainer, traveling to Sysco’s sites to help other teams set up their systems.
“In 2024, a container ship in Baltimore lost power and struck a pier, causing the Francis Scott Key Bridge to fall into the Patapsco River. I was forced to drive four hours a day, to and from work. I sold my townhouse and moved into a condominium closer to my worksite.”
Shortly after the bridge collapsed, Presler was in an automobile accident, which further limited his ability to travel. Presler felt stalled in his career. “I wanted to advance myself to create more value for my company and the industry. Unsure how to go forward, I wondered if I would benefit from going back to school.”
A Positive Learning Experience As An Undergraduate At JWU
Presler began his career in the food industry by taking vocational culinary classes during his junior and senior year of high school in Virginia. Presler notes, “Back then, I wasn’t thinking about pursuing a career in food safety and quality assurance. I expected to become a food service manager or an operations director, possibly on Capitol Hill.”
Presler visited multiple culinary school campuses, including Johnson & Wales in Charleston, South Carolina. “I was accepted at a prestigious culinary school that had a beautiful campus and a program that looked great,” Presler shares. “But I was concerned that at that time, students weren’t permitted to leave campus to work in the industry. I needed a job to pay my rent, and I wanted to work in food service.
“My vocational instructor asked: ‘Do you want to go to that high-profile school, get burned out after graduating and wind up selling cars — or do you want to go to Johnson & Wales and try to make a career for yourself?’”
History, Reputation And Experiential Learning
Presler considered Johnson & Wales for the university’s history and reputation. JWU had established the College of Culinary Arts in 1973 and launched New England’s first Associate Degree in Culinary Arts. In 1993, JWU was the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Culinary Arts.
Appreciating that the university combined classroom lectures with hands-on, experiential learning, Presler chose to attend JWU. Transfer credit from Presler’s vocational culinary classes allowed him to enter JWU’s culinary program as a sophomore.
“JWU’s industry focus distinguishes its programs from those at other schools,” says Presler. “In the early 2000s, while I was an undergraduate on the Charleston campus, the school scheduled classes on Monday through Thursday, so we could work in local food establishments from Friday through Sunday. The opportunity to be part of the culinary industry was like a call to service.
“In addition to what we learned in school, we added value to the Charleston community and its restaurants. The community loved that we were here to cook for them — the city embraced us. I believe that gaining hands-on experience while providing value to the community made me more successful in the food industry and in my role in food safety today.”
Choosing JWU Online To Earn A Master’s Degree
As a Food Safety Quality Assurance Director, Presler appreciates that modern food systems are global, involving complex supply chains, cross-border trade, international standards and collaboration between agencies (FDA, WHO, FAO) to manage risks and ensure safe food for billions of consumers worldwide. Presler first applied to a local on-campus master’s degree program in international relations.
“Enrolling in that program would have required me to attend classes after work at 5:30pm. I would have had to drive to DC, and be in the classroom for 90 minutes, three days a week. On the remaining four days each week, I would need to study at home. Then I would have been required to complete a three-month internship abroad.”
Flexibility And Fresh Perspective
When Presler contacted JWU to obtain his transcript, he learned from Admissions Associate Rachel Brown that while the university doesn’t offer an online degree in international relations, JWU Online’s Food Safety master’s degree program would provide opportunities to create presentations that address domestic and global food safety concerns. “Rachel walked me through the program and explained, ‘You’d have to designate so many hours a week to studying, but in an online program, you don’t have to give up your whole life.’”
The master’s degree is designed to give Presler a fresh perspective about the regulatory, retail and food processing operations integral to his role at Sysco. He would also gain new skills in research and data analytics, which are critical today for making decisions about safety operations and procedures.
As a student in the program, Presler says, “JWU Online’s Food Safety master’s degree program has the same industry focus that I experienced in my undergraduate degree programs on-campus at JWU. I’m gaining a better understanding about what I currently do and expanding my knowledge at a higher level. I’m able to immediately apply what I am learning to my role in food safety quality assurance and share my knowledge with others in my work community.”
ADAPTING TO ONLINE LEARNING
Returning to JWU in his forties, Presler says he is better able to manage learning than when he attended JWU as a teenager. “The pace of online learning works well for me. I can take the time to fully absorb the material and apply something I’ve learned at work each week.
“Online learning helps me structure how I approach my assignments. In the classroom, I’d be holding an outline on paper, while looking at and listening to the professor explain the scope of the course. In an online format, I can read the syllabus multiple times and digest it, so that I understand what the professor is looking for. I can work out a schedule and plan for any support I might need, for example, writing assistance.”
Technology Has Been Presler’s Biggest Hurdle
Returning to school after 20+ years, Presler was baffled the first week when asked to make a video introducing himself and post it to the discussion board. “I was stressed thinking, ‘How the heck do I do this?’ But I’ve since gained confidence that I can work through challenging assignments and get them done on time. If I need assistance, I can email the professor, who will respond within 24 hours.
“I also built a storyboard for the first time. Colleagues at work tell me they have made storyboards and videos, so I’m excited to be learning skills at JWU that everyone in business today uses to communicate information and ideas. While I don’t use these skills daily in my quality assurance role, I aspire to train others, so it helps to know how to create an 8-minute video and upload it to YouTube.”
“I’m Living What I’m Learning.”
Presler asserts, “Food Law was the best choice to take as a first course because it is the backbone of what I do every day. Each week in my Food Law class, the topic coincided with something that was actually happening in our food industry. For example, one week we discussed adulterated versus non-adulterated food products and how the FDA and USDA collaborate to protect the food supply from contamination or intentional adulteration. For another assignment, we explored legal issues related to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which was being hotly debated in the news media.
“Living in Columbia, Maryland, I’m only 40 minutes away from D.C. My company had a group of us meet on Capitol Hill to talk with members of the Senate and House about various bills related to the food industry. So, I’m able to immediately put into play what I am learning about food safety.”
Looking Back
“As a student at JWU Charleston, Sysco was my dream job. I wondered if I could ever have a career with the company. One day, after earning my undergraduate degrees and getting work experience, Sysco called me and said, ‘Come join us.’
“JWU shaped my professionalism during my undergraduate years. Some of my professors in Charleston were tough, but being tough helped me become who I am today. If I hadn’t earned my bachelor’s degree at JWU, I likely wouldn’t be in the role I’m in today.”
Looking Forward
Presler says he is glad he chose Food Safety in preference to a degree in International Relations. “The food industry has been changing, and one of the biggest things I continue to learn from my education at JWU is to embrace change. I’m able to take a challenging situation and turn it around to create a positive outcome.”
When shown a video of Angela Duckworth‘s TED Talk during his orientation, Presler was inspired by her concept of ‘grit.’ Duckworth, a psychologist who studies academic and professional success, proposes that the one characteristic significantly predicting success is grit. She defines grit as having the passion and perseverance to stick with something day in and day out for years to achieve your goal. Emphatic about the hard work needed to make the future a reality, Duckworth declares, “Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
“That hit me,” says Presler, “because I believe grit is what has driven me to get where I am today. Passionate, hardworking and with the training I am receiving in the Food Safety master’s degree program at JWU Online, I’m excited to be running that marathon.”
The Food Safety Master’s Degree Program
Ready to advance your career in food safety with our fully online Master of Science degree in Food Safety at JWU Online? Complete the Request Info form, submit your free application, or email [email protected].
