Today it was announced that longtime IWC school Director Linda Lawry DWS, CWE, would retire at the end of the month.
Lawry first joined IWC in 1985 as the special events director. She subsequently became a key IWC instructor and assumed her current position as the school director in 2000. Under her tenure as director, more than 300 students earned the rigorous WSET Diploma. In addition to the responsibilities of director, she was the primary instructor for the Wine and Spirits Education Trust Advanced Certificate, and lecturer for the WSET Diploma.
On Lawry’s retirement, IWC President Mary Ewing-Mulligan MW commented “Linda’s contribution to International Wine Center over the years has been simply immeasurable. Her warmth and grace have permeated the culture of our school. Through her love of wine and her devotion as an instructor, she has mentored hundreds of students who today hold key positions in the wine and spirits trade.”
An avid learner and wine lover, Lawry earned the rigorous WSET Diploma in 1997 and has visited all of the wine regions that she teaches. She is also a Certified Wine Educator, a Certified Specialist of Spirits of the Society of Wine Educators, and a trained chef, having earned a Certificate with Honors from the New York Restaurant School. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Wine Educators and as President of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York Chapter. While at IWC, she was also a member of the faculty of New York University from 1997 until 2016 in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, where she taught a wine and spirits course.
