UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Food television personality and author Simon Majumdar will visit Penn State on March 19 and 20 to headline several on-campus events.

On March 19, Majumdar will deliver a keynote speech to School of Hospitality Management students and staff at the Kern Building. The following day, Majumdar will lead a lunchtime cooking demo at Pollock Commons and emcee a culinary challenge featuring several Penn State chefs at 6 p.m. at Redifer Commons in the South Food District.

The culinary challenge will feature four teams of two chefs apiece. Each team will receive a list of ingredients and a mystery box that must be used in their dishes with 60 minutes to complete their dish.

“We are excited to host Simon at Penn State,” said Jim Meinecke, director of residential dining. “He has a wealth of knowledge, both about food and culture. He also has an interesting journey to the present day, personally and professionally. We can’t wait for his visit and to learn from him for two days.”

Majumdar, originally from Rotherham, England, is a world-renowned broadcaster, food writer, speaker, author and cook. He was a restaurant critic for Time Out Los Angeles and has written hundreds of articles for such outlets as The Guardian, Foodnetwork.com and The Times of London. He has written three books: “Eat My Globe” (2009), “Eating for Britain” (2011) and “Fed, White and Blue” (2015). Majumdar also is a well-recognized television personality, regularly appearing on shows such as Guy Fieri's "Tournament of Champions," "Alex vs. America," "Iron Chef America," "Supermarket Stakeout," "Guy's Grocery Games," "Cutthroat Kitchen," "Beat Bobby Flay," and "The Next Iron Chef" (Food Network); "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" (Food Network and Cooking Channel); and "EAT: The Story of Food" (Nat Geo). He also is the creator, writer and host of the hit food history podcast, "Eat My Globe: Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know About Food."