Alumni Spotlight: Zachary Puhala ’04
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Like a fine chef, Washington & Jefferson College men’s water polo alumnus Zachary Puhala ’04 mixed the right ingredients into his time as an athlete for the Presidents.
A four-year member of the men’s water polo and swimming teams – and a two-year men’s lacrosse athlete – the Bachelor of Fine Arts recipient went from the water, to the kitchen and back to the pool deck as he currently serves as the Executive Chef for Parkhurst Dining and an assistant women’s water polo coach at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.
Employed at Wittenberg as Executive Chef since December 2016, he joined the water polo staff in January 2019 upon the launch of the Tigers’ inaugural varsity water polo team.
A member of the Clark County (Ohio) Local Food Council – an organization charged with helping the local community learn about locally grown/produced foods – since March 2018, Puhala also serves with Chefs Move to Schools. Chefs Move to Schools is a program where culinary professionals instruct school children on making healthier food choices.
Following graduation, the Johnstown, Pa., native worked as a graphic artist and part-time server at a restaurant prior to moving to the back of the house to cook and falling in love with it.
His love of cooking led him to the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh where he graduated in 2009 as both Valedictorian and the recipient of the Young Professional’s Medal of Merit of the Académie Brillat-Savarin.
Pulaha, who noted in an alumni piece for W&J that his favorite memory as a student-athlete was, “traveling with the water polo team going all over New England” and “being part of the first water polo team”, took his new degree and became a Grillardan (broiler cook) at the Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh from November 2007-to-September 2010. Following a nearly two-year tenure at Washington & Jefferson in Washington, Pa., as a Sous Chef from October 2010-to-July 2013, for Parkhurst Dining, he moved over inside Parkhurst to Duquesne University in Pittsburgh as Executive Sous Chef from July 2013-to-January 2016.
Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., required his services with Parkhurst in 2016 first as interim Executive Chef from January-to-March prior to assuming the Executive Chef role from March-to-November. Following his 11-months at W&L, Pulaha accepted the role of Executive Chef at Wittenberg in December 2016 prior to joining the water polo staff .
