Navin Dimond (’85), CEO of Stonebridge Companies, has a history of providing unique learning opportunities for WSU students interested in hospitality business management, marketing, sales and construction management careers. Last fall, Dimond and Executive Chef Jamie Callison teamed to offer hospitality students a transformational week of learning at the Stonebridge corporate office and key properties in Denver.

While growing up, Elizabeth Nalbandian often helped her mother and grandmother make food for traditions spanning thousands of years. At 12 she learned to make pastries; as a bored 15-year-old, she read recipe books whenever her grammar teacher wasn’t looking. After high school, she became intrigued by the idea of combining food, science, and culture into a career path. How she would up over 6,700 miles from her home in Jerusalem to study hospitality, culinary arts, and food science at WSU is a story as sweet as chocolate.