Michael Gillies

Mr Michael Gillies is Lecturer and Course Director for the BSc Culinary Arts Management in the Ulster University Business School’s Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Michael studied for an honours degree in Culinary Arts at Ulster before going on to work in the hospitality industry for several years.

His worldwide experience includes senior chef roles in 5-star hotels and Michelin listed restaurants.

Returning to academia he completed a PGCFHE in 2009 and took up a successful lecturing position in catering within the further education sector at one of the 5 NI regional colleges.  He joined Ulster University in 2016 went onto complete PGCE Higher Education Practice followed by a Masters in Education (MEd) in 2023.

Michael was recipient of Educator of the Year 2020 from the Institute of Hospitality.

He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Chartered Management Business Educator (CMBE) and a Member of the Institute of Hospitality (MIH).  Furthermore, Michael is a member craftsman of the Craft Guild of Chefs and British Culinary Federation. He is a culinary judge at numerous competitions and sits on the advisory board for IFEX and the Chef Network. He was selected to validate the international standards for Worldskills Culinary Arts whereby the changes he advised have been put in place worldwide.

Michaels main research areas focus on consumer perceptions on food, outreach programmes, food safety as well as some pedagogic research on the use of digital technology in teaching. He has published on all these areas in academic journals or conference papers.

Michael also engages regularly in consultancy work with industry (in line with his core research areas) and works closely with local community and business networks.  Michael has considerable experience of working with private companies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and has made use of Invest NI and Enterprise Ireland funding to conduct research which has enabled companies to make improvements in product development and recipe specifications.

Michael is also involved in the Academy, Centre for food and drink and Culture at Ulster University.  He led the successful validation award from the Craft Guild of Chefs and was involved in the successful application of the Green Key sustainability award.  He continues to oversee the successful Culinary Salons in the Academy promoting the use of experiential learning for Ulster University students.

Michael is an external examiner for Queen Margaret University and is a panel member for the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance in Higher Education.