---
title: ‘Giant’ of Dining Services Bids Farewell
date: 2024-06-18T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/giant-of-dining-services-bids-farewell"
section: Articles
---
# ‘Giant’ of Dining Services Bids Farewell

*June 18, 2024* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> From Grilled Liver to Chicken Biryani, Interim Director Joe Mullineaux Dishes on Biggest Changes in 47-Year Career

*Joe Mullineaux 06102024 SC 1938 1920x1080 — Retiring this month after nearly a half century with Dining Services, Interim Director Joe Mullineaux poses at Joe's Grill, named for him and the late Joe Pesce, a former colleague in Dining Services. Below, he helped serve up food at a resident advisor welcome event in the late 1990s, and later grilled up hot dogs at a Division of Student Affairs end-of-academic-year celebration.*

Joe Mullineaux’s five-decade journey in Dining Services started with a contraband dinner roll, slice or two of roast beef, and squeeze of mustard.

It was 1977, and the sophomore been hoping to stash away a little snack, since dinner service at the University of Maryland dining halls ended at 6:30 p.m. But he got caught, and rather than go before the student conduct board, he chose the alternative option: 10 hours of dishwashing.

Mullineaux found he was pretty good at it, and he liked the camaraderie in the kitchen. He stayed on as a student worker and became a full-time employee, scaling the ranks over time to become interim director in 2022.

“Dining Services is a big family,” said Mullineaux, who also met his wife, Lynn ’84, assistant to the senior vice president and provost, at UMD. “It’s a wonderful, wonderful team, and they’re so committed to the students. And the students make me feel, like in my mind, I’m still 24.”


*man in Hawaiian shirt poses at banana stand — Photo courtesy of Dining Services*


*man cooks hot dogs on grill — Photo courtesy of Dining Services*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Food](https://today.umd.edu/topic/food)


**Units:** [Dining Services](https://today.umd.edu/topic/dining-services), [Division of Student Affairs](https://today.umd.edu/topic/division-student-affairs)