The James Beard Foundation is a New York City–based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The programs run the gamut from elegant guest-chef dinners to scholarships for aspiring culinary students, educational conferences, and industry awards. In the spirit of James Beard's legacy, the foundation not only creates programs that help educate people about American cuisine, but also support and promote the chefs and other industry professionals who are behind it. History The foundation was started in 1986 by Peter Kump, a former student of James Beard who also founded the Institute of Culinary Education. At Julia Child's suggestion, Kump purchased Beard's New York brownstone townhouse at 167 West 12th Street in Greenwich Village and preserved it as a gathering place where the general public and press alike would be able to appreciate the talents of established and emerging chefs. The first such dinner was at the suggestion of Wolfgang Puck in 1987. Puck cooked a dinner to raise money and Kump later established it as a monthly event. Leonard F. Pickell Jr. was nominated as president of the foundation in 1995. In August 2004, shortly before the results of a three-month audit were to be announced, he resigned. He was charged with fraud in late September, having misused the foundation's finances for unnecessary and undocumented expenses. Pickell later pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny and a $1.1 million theft. As a result of the scandal and his indictment by the Attorney General's Office, the members of the board of the foundation were asked to resign in January 2005. In January 2006, the reconstituted board, under the direction of interim president Edna Morris, initiated a search for a permanent president of the foundation. In April that year Susan Ungaro, formerly editor-in-chief of Family Circle magazine from 1976 to 2005, was appointed president. Following the scandal, the foundation also made changes such as creating a salary for the president, CFO, auditors and a larger staff. The foundation lost about $1 million under Pickell's leadership, and paid approximately $750,000 in legal and accounting fees. Sponsorships, donations, and event revenues also dropped after the scandal broke prompting the foundation to take out a $2 million mortgage on the Beard home, the only asset. In October 2007, the board announced that Woodrow