Richard Mallard’s culinary career began at age 13 and spans more than 30 years. Inspired by his mother, he pursued both academics and professional culinary training—graduating magna cum laude from St. Edward’s University with a B.S. in Social Psychology and Industrial & Organizational Psychology, then earning an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts and Sciences from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute at the top of his class.

By the age of 23, he was Executive Chef at Coach Insignia (now Highlands Detroit) atop the Renaissance GM Tower in downtown Detroit. He later returned to Texas and moved into foodservice management and corporate dining, serving as Executive Chef and General Manager at Freescale’s world headquarters, opening the kitchen at the Toyota Motor Plant in San Antonio, and concluding his corporate dining tenure at HP Austin as Chef/GM and area troubleshooter over seven years.

In 2011 Richard transitioned to child nutrition in public schools, beginning as Associate and Operations Director for Leander ISD, overseeing operations across 22 campuses. He then spent eight years with Alamo Heights ISD, where he transitioned the high school to an “off-program” model (no Federal funding) and designed a new café and dining experience—introducing multiple concepts, stations, and a standalone coffee and smoothie bar. Under his leadership the high school’s annual profit grew annually across five schools.

He currently leads the foodservice program for Eanes ISD, having taken secondary campuses off-program and driving the program’s most profitable year in history (SY 2021–22), with continued growth expected through an expanded catering program.