The award honors a lifetime of leadership in Portland’s food scene and a deep commitment to fighting hunger and building community.
September 15, 2026
Press Release
PORTLAND, OR—Reed College is honored to announce that Amelia Hard ’67 has been named the 2026 recipient of the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award for Lifetime Achievement by a Reed College Graduate, in recognition of her transformative impact on Portland’s culinary landscape and her decades-long commitment to food justice and education.
Reed College will formally present the award to Amelia Hard on Thursday, October 1 at 6 p.m. in the Vollum Lecture Hall, and Hard will present a talk that is free and open to the public.
A chef, educator, and tireless anti-hunger advocate, Hard spent more than 40 years shaping the region’s food culture. Working with her husband Fred as co-owner of Genoa, one of Portland’s earliest and most influential fine-dining restaurants, she played a central role in establishing the city’s reputation as a food destination and as a leader in the farm-to-table movement. While at Genoa, she became involved with the anti-hunger nonprofit Share our Strength and established a long-running annual fundraising event in Portland as part of their Taste of the Nation hunger relief initiative.
After selling Genoa to a group of the restaurant's employees, she continued her anti-hunger work, serving on the board of the Oregon Food Bank for several years, while also beginning to teach cooking classes. She eventually devoted herself full-time to teaching at venues including In Good Taste, Caprial and John's Kitchen, Bob's Red Mill, and Milwaukie Kitchen and Wine. She also brought her teaching skills to the Oregon Food Bank (OFB), where she helped launch a nutrition education program that allowed chefs to work directly with OFB's low-income clients.
Hard was recognized for her anti-hunger work by receiving Share Our Strength's Humanitarian of the Year Award in 1997 and OFB's Founder Award in 2006.
Hard’s impact extended far beyond the kitchen. She has long championed the vision of a public market for Portland and has been a driving force behind the James Beard Public Market. As a founding member and former president of the board of the Historic Portland Public Market Foundation, she helped shape both the market and its Oregon Taste initiative.
“Amelia Hard’s work exemplifies the values at the heart of Reed College—intellectual rigor, integrity, and a commitment to the public good,” said Reed College President Audrey Bilger. “Whether leading in the world of fine dining or working side by side with community members to fight food insecurity, she has demonstrated how thoughtful, independent action can bring people together and create lasting change that responds to urgent and enduring challenges alike.”
In addition to her professional achievements, Hard has been an active alumna of Reed College, volunteering with the Marketplace, participating in the Oral History Project, and serving on her 50th reunion committee. She also contributed to the Alumni Fundraising for Reed initiative (now named All for Reed) and has maintained an ongoing connection to the college community through service and engagement.
The Thomas Lamb Eliot Award, named for Reed College’s founding board president, honors alumni who have achieved distinction in one or more fields of endeavor and who exemplify the college’s highest values. The selection process includes review by a committee of Reed alumni, faculty, and staff, with final approval by the board of trustees. The board unanimously endorsed Hard’s selection at its February 2025 meeting.
About the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award
The Thomas Lamb Eliot Award, named in honor of the college’s founding board president, celebrates Reed alumni who have achieved distinction over time, earned the respect of their peers, and contributed meaningfully to society. Awardees are selected by a committee of Reed alumni, faculty, and staff and approved by the board of trustees. Read more about the Thomas Lamb Eliot Award at https://www.reed.edu/president/awards/eliot.
For more information, contact:
Sheena McFarland, Chief Communications Officer, Reed College smcfarland@reed.edu; Cell: 801-510-5567
About Reed College
Founded in 1908 in southeast Portland, Oregon, Reed College is a coeducational, independent liberal arts and sciences college. Referred to as one of the most intellectual colleges in the country, Reed is known for its high standards of scholarly practice, creative thinking, and engaged citizenship.
Reed College is devoted to the intrinsic value of intellectual pursuit and is governed by the highest standards of scholarly practice, critical thought, and creativity. Its undergraduate program of study, leading to the degree of Bachelor of Arts, is demanding and intense and balances breadth of knowledge across the curriculum with depth of knowledge in a particular field of study. The goal of a Reed education is that students learn and demonstrate rigor and independence in their habits of thought, inquiry, and expression.