ASU names first baker‑in‑residence

Arizona State University has named Tucson baker Don Guerra its first baker-in-residence for the School of Transborder Studies. (newsroom.asu.edu) Guerra is the founder of Barrio Bread, and the James Beard Foundation named him the 2022 Outstanding Baker. Arizona State University said he will serve in the new role for the upcoming year. (jamesbeard.org) (newsroom.asu.edu) The university tied the residency to programming on food, culture and community, and said Guerra’s first campus lecture, “Bread without Borders,” was scheduled for March 5 at the Tempe campus. Arizona State University described the post as an expansion of its earlier artist-in-residence model. (news.asu.edu) (newsroom.asu.edu) The appointment places breadmaking inside a school focused on borderlands, migration and culture rather than inside a traditional culinary department. Arizona State University said the residency centers food as a way to study community life and cross-border connections. (newsroom.asu.edu) Guerra’s own story tracks that approach. Arizona State University said he grew up near the Tempe campus, studied anthropology at the University of Arizona, and later built Barrio Bread into a Tucson bakery known for naturally fermented loaves and Sonoran grain traditions. (news.asu.edu) (barriobread.com) Arizona television station KTVK reported that Guerra bakes about 1,000 loaves a day at Hayden Flour Mills and will teach students both how to make bread and how bread can connect communities. That adds a working commercial baker to campus programming during Arizona State University’s spring term, which runs through May 1 for Session C classes. (azfamily.com) (registrar.asu.edu) Arizona State University framed the residency as a yearlong bridge between a public university and one of Arizona’s best-known bakers. The first baker-in-residence is not just visiting campus; he is being used to turn bread into coursework, demonstrations and public talks. (newsroom.asu.edu)