Housing and Food Services Manager
Penn State University
Nathan Dealy '19 is the housing and food services manager at Penn State University in Harrisburg, PA. He completed his culinary externship at Penn State Harrisburg. After Nathan completed his externship, he returned to IUP and earned his associate of culinary arts and bachelor’s degree in hospitality management. Afterwards, he started at Penn State, University Park as a catering cook, where he helped cater food for the entire University Park campus, including the Bryce Jordan Center, Pegula Ice Arena, and Beaver Stadium. He then received a promotion into residential dining as a Food Services Manager 1 at East Food District. Nathan recently received another promotion as a Housing and Food Services Manager 2 at Penn State Harrisburg.
As a housing and food services manager, Nathan helps oversee and manage all aspects of the six food services operations: Stacks Market, The Outpost, We Proudly Brew Biscottis Coffee Shop, Provisions Convenience Store, The Rolling Lion Food Truck, and Campus Catering. Nathan represents the Harrisburg campus as one of the culinary liaisons and as a member of the retail committee. He also assists in managing all housing operations.
Nathan’s favorite part of his job is being able to serve, interact, and work with all the students who come from all over the globe to study and work at Penn State. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, Betty, visiting new restaurants and breweries. Nathan is an avid trout fisherman, a huge Penn State Football fan, and enjoys volunteering for the Boy Scouts and at church.
Nathan’s education at IUP equipped him with a solid foundation of technical and managerial skills that helped him start his career in the Hospitality Industry. His education at IUP also taught him discipline, work ethic, and an "every detail matters" mentality. These foundations and mindset have helped him build his career at Penn State.
The most important benefit from attending IUP ACA was the externship program, which led him to an externship with Penn State, which then turned into his career. Nathan now participates in our Extern Sponsor Fair each spring and offers students the same opportunity he was presented—a fantastic externship with Penn State.
Another great benefit of attending IUP was the relationships and connections he built during his time at IUP. Due to IUP small class sizes, your classmates become like family. The lifelong friendships he formed at IUP are just another reason why attending IUP was one of the best decisions he ever made. IUP has great networking opportunities to connect with chefs and other hospitality professionals from all over.
If Nathan could share a piece of advice with future students, it is “Always maintain an ‘every detail matters’ mentality, and always stay hydrated!”