Sophie Egan
Sophie Egan is Director of Programs and Culinary Nutrition for the Strategic Initiatives Group at The Culinary Institute of America, where she oversees a portfolio of the college’s industry leadership initiatives focused on health, sustainability, and food systems. She recently earned her Master of Public Health from UC Berkeley, with a focus on Health and Social Behavior. During her master’s program, she worked at Health Research for Action, sat on the school’s admissions committee, and was a Fellow at the UC Berkeley Center for Health Leadership. Sophie studied food policy, food innovation, and media strategies for framing health issues within national conversations. Throughout her two years, she collaborated with Michael Pollan, Knight Professor of Science and Environmental Journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, starting with her long-form narrative piece, “Stunt Foods.” Tracing the birth of Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos Tacos, “Stunt Foods” took the cover of WIRED magazine’s October 2013 food issue. Her story was part of a larger feature on food trends that was nominated for a 2014 National Magazine Award. In a story for NPR, “Rebranding Public Health,” she called for more creative approaches to engaging the public around chronic disease prevention and healthcare. Prior to returning to school, Sophie spent three years working at Sunset magazine, the lifestyle publication of the American West. Along with contributing to The Sunset Cookbook (2010) and The One-Block Feast (2011), she authored over 30 food and travel stories, reaching five million readers. While there, she pioneered Sunset’s first collaborative projects with Stanford University’s Bill Lane Center for the American West. She holds a B.A. with Honors in history from Stanford University, as well as a minor in mathematics. During college, she managed a student dining hall and studied the history of food culture while abroad at Università di Bologna.