Susan Kelliher Ungaro was appointed President of the James Beard Foundation in April 2006. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ungaro was editor-in-chief of Family Circle magazine for 12 years and celebrated her 25th anniversary at the publication in 2001. During her tenure at Family Circle, the magazine received numerous awards, including the National Magazine Award and a Sigma Delta Chi award. Ungaro has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Hope Award from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Irish America magazine’s Top Business 100 Award, the Muriel Fox Communications Award from the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, the President’s Award from the New Jersey Press Women’s Association, and the William Paterson Legacy Award. She was a participant in President Clinton’s Women’s Roundtables, and was honored by President Reagan’s Office for Consumer Affairs for her “outstanding contribution to increasing consumer awareness in America.”

Since joining the Foundation, Ungaro has overseen the expansion of the Foundation’s culinary scholarship program, an online enrollment program that has led to an increase in membership, the relocation of the annual James Beard Foundation Awards Gala to the prestigious Lincoln Center, and the first James Beard Foundation Taste America Food Festival, which took place in 20 cities around the country in September 2007.Both of Ungaro’s parents emigrated from Co. Kerry.

Click HERE to read a feature interview with Ungaro from the December/January 2012 Business 100 issue of Irish America.