Legacy Series: Chef Don Carlson Retiring

Posted: Monday, October 7th 2013 at 4:32 AM

One of HRM’s faculty members will be saying goodbye at the end of this semester. Chef Don Carlson is going into retirement after 25 years as executive chef and lecturer at NAU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

“It’s different and exciting,” Carlson said. “I’ve got some crazy plans; I’m selling my house here in Flagstaff and buying a houseboat."

Although looking forward to starting this new adventure in his life, Chef Carlson says he’ll miss his students and the school.

“NAU’s been great; they’ve been really good to me,” he said. “I mean, it shows since I’ve stayed here for 25 years, doesn’t it?”

The change of scenery will be nice though. He plans to live on his houseboat along the Tenn-Tom Waterway, a picturesque location popular among boat enthusiasts and also used as a transportation highway.

“I have a brother who’s 16 months older than I am, and he got me hooked on the idea about 6 or 7 months ago,” Carlson explained. “We started talking about retirement and that’s what he wanted to do so we’re actually going to be doing that in different boats, but in the same area.”

NAU SHRM will surely miss Chef but everyone wishes him good luck in his journeys.

From Chef, October 2013

Chef Carlson with his students
Categories: chef don carlson chef retirement faculty spring 2013 legacy series