The Culinary Institute of America wants students to be able to follow in the footsteps and tastebuds of one of its most famous alums, Anthony Bourdain.
Bourdain, who died in June 2018, graduated from CIA in 1978, and now the chef's legacy will live in the form of a study abroad grant. The Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship will be awarded annually to one or more students to help them "pursue study abroad and international cuisines and cultures experiences as part of their education at the CIA," the school's website says.
L. Timothy Ryan, president of The Culinary Institute, told The New York Times that since fundraising just began, the award's monetary amount is not yet known, but the school hopes the scholarship will create a larger endowment for the future. Donations to the Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship can be made on the school's website.
Bourdain would have turned 63 today. His culinary career began during his time at Vassar College with a summer job as a dishwasher on Cape Cod, but his promotion to a cooking station inspired him to enroll at The Culinary Institute of America. In December 2017, Bourdain delivered CIA's commencement speech and received an honorary doctorate.
His longtime friends and fellow chefs José Andrés and Eric Ripert want to ensure Bourdain's legacy as someone who loved experiencing life and other cultures through food lives on. Andrés posted a video of the two enjoying beers to celebrate their late friend's birthday, dubbed #BourdainDay in his honor.
"I hope that…many people will enjoy life, will have a drink," Andrés told Esquire. "They will cook, they will go to a food truck. They will go to [a] picnic. They will go to [a] street vendor. A hot dog, a fancy restaurant, whatever. And they will toast Tony and wish, 'Happy Bourdain Day' on Instagram, on [the] internet, on Twitter. That's it."
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