Bravo, Chef!

Fans of the Bravo reality cooking competition Top Chef got to witness the culinary chops of George Pagonis ’05. The show’s 12th season, filmed in Boston, began Oct. 15. Pagonis is executive chef and partner at Washington, D.C.’s Kapnos, the first Greek restaurant of celebrity chef Mike Isabella. Pagonis came to the restaurant in 2013 after having served as chef de cuisine at Isabella’s Graffiato, also in Washington. He has also worked in fine-dining restaurants in New York. After earning a degree in business administration at Mary Washington, Pagonis got a degree from the Culinary Institute of America. His first restaurant experience was at his father’s diner, The Four Seasons, in Alexandria, Virginia. … [Read more...]

Film Exec Advises “Change and Innovate”

NBC Universal executive Daniel Wolfe ’84 came from California to spend two fall days on campus as the University of Mary Washington’s 2014-15 executive-in-residence. In October, Wolfe spoke with students and community leaders about the business of moviemaking, a subject he knows well. As executive vice president of NBC Universal’s Worldwide Creative Operations, he oversees a staff of more than 100 who provide marketing support for Universal productions. At UMW, he urged audience members to be innovative in their businesses and careers. “Maintaining the status quo is not a strategy,” he said. Businesses can either hold onto their success model until it becomes irrelevant or continuously look to change and innovate. “The biggest thing is: Are we listening to our consumer? The ability to ask questions, the ability to let your guard down and say ‘let me ask what would be a better way to do this’ is so important for any business and for any individual to keep growing,” Wolfe … [Read more...]

Former Eagle Finds Niche Promoting NFL Jaguars

It’s easy to imagine Tad Dickman ’12 in his dorm room after a long day of classes and basketball practice as a University of Mary Washington undergrad, fighting exhaustion to finish a term paper and wondering: When am I ever going to do this in the “real world”? Now, those term papers must seem like tapping a text message compared to the 150-page dossier Dickman compiles weekly as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ public relations coordinator. Just two years after earning a degree in business administration, Dickman finds himself feeding football fans’ - and the media’s - insatiable appetite for information. A four-year starter on the Eagles’ basketball team, Dickman knew he wanted to pursue a career in athletics. Interning abroad after his junior year, he fell in love with PR while working in Sydney for Australia’s National Basketball League. After graduation, he interned with Major League Soccer’s D.C. United before getting an internship with the National Football League's New York … [Read more...]