Ray Daniels

About Ray Daniels

Founder and Director of the Cicerone Certification Program the global standard for the recognition of beer experts from bartenders to brewery owners. Overall my career has been one of converting ideas into functioning realities. While my early career gave me creative opportunities primarily in healthcare related fields, I ultimately found my home in the rapidly growing craft beer scene. Here, I discovered numerous opportunities to create events, books, classes and other engagements for consumers and industry members. The products of these efforts started with my hometown of Chicago and grew to reach an ever wider audience between 1990 and 2006. When I left the Brewers Association and began to search for “what’s next” I happened on the idea of creating a “beer sommelier” designation. Work on that idea led me to creation of the Cicerone Certification Program which I have been leading ever since. Specialties: beer expert, public relations consultant, marketing manager, publisher, non-profit association management.

Experience

1. Director

   Cicerone Certification Program

   Aug 2007 — Present

   Founder and director of the professional certification program for people who sell and serve beer. Cicerone is a registered trademark and those who use it in the beer business must pass the appropriate certification exams.

Education

• Texas A&M University

  BS, Biochemistry, Journalism

  1975 — 1979

• Harvard Business School

  Master of Business Administration - MBA

  1981 — 1983

• Siebel Institute

  Diploma, Brewing

• Heriot-Watt University

  Brewing and Distilling