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California State University, Fullerton

Chef, restaurateur and best-selling author Roy Choi, a pioneer of the gourmet food-truck phenomenon, was born in Seoul, South Korea. His family settled in Southern California when he was a child, and he was raised in Los Angeles and Orange County. He graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and went on to earn a degree at the Culinary Institute of America in New York City. He worked in upscale restaurants in both New York and Los Angeles, eventually becoming chef de cuisine at the Beverly Hilton. In 2008, he and his partners—Mark Manguera (a fellow Cal State Fullerton alumnus) and Caroline Shin-Manguera—opened Kogi Korean BBQ-to-Go, a food truck specializing in Korean short rib tacos.

A synthesis of Mr. Choi’s Korean heritage and his Southern California upbringing, Kogi became a Los Angeles culinary sensation thanks to its unique menu of fusion street food and the savvy use of social media to promote the truck’s next location. That success has led to a catering business, brick-and-mortar restaurants, collaborations with other well-known chefs and even a feature film inspired by Mr. Choi’s journey in the modern food truck movement, Jon Favreau’s “Chef.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served the community by hosting free food “drive-through” events with the Kogi food truck. Mr. Choi is passionate about addressing the lack of accessibility and affordability in food, nutrition and health care. He teaches cooking at A Place Called Home, a nonprofit organization in South Central Los Angeles that provides local youths with a safe, nurturing environment and programming in the arts, education and wellness.

In 2020, Mr. Choi won both an Emmy Award and the James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Host in a Television Series for “Broken Bread,” a PBS television show that addresses social justice issues such as food accessibility, waste and the corporate takeover of food and farming. He has also co-hosted, with Favreau, four seasons of the docuseries “The Chef Show” on Netflix, and in 2022, he was inducted into the California Hall of Fame by Governor Gavin Newsom for his accomplishments benefiting the state, nation and world.

In recognition of his celebrated career and his contributions to the culinary industry and to Southern California, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Fullerton are proud to confer upon Roy Choi the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.