Tom “The Dough Doctor” Lehmann, Retires after Almost 50 Years

After almost 50 years with AIB International, Tom Lehmann is retiring. Lehmann is internationally known for his expertise in pizza production and dough troubleshooting. 

“Tom’s lengthy history with AIB is unparalleled,” said Brian Strouts, vice president of Baking and Food Technical Services at AIB.

“During the impressive span of his career with the company, he has taken on a number of important roles and been critical to the expansion of our technical offerings.”

During a July 24 employee recognition ceremony held in conjunction with AIB’s annual All -­‐ Staff Conference, Lehmann was honoured by AIB President Andre Biane as the longest standing employee in the company’s history.

Lehmann joined AIB in 1965 as a baking technologist and was later promoted to director, bakery assistance.

Shortly after joining AIB, he was contracted to reverse engineer a popular pizza being made in Chicago and quickly became AIB’s pizza expert, and well known as a leader in the pizza industry. Lehmann started writing about pizza in 1979 and has authored numerous publications on topics ranging from mixing and baking dough to creating different styles of pizza. He is also a regular columnist for industry magazines such as Pizza Marketing Quarterly and Pizza Today, and participates in online activities such as PMQ’s Think Tank, and pizzamaking.com.

Lehmann developed the first Technical Assistant, Individualized Training and Technical Assistance programs for AIB, taught many classes and seminars and consulted for numerous clients.

“Tom has been a terrific asset in the classroom. His experience in and knowledge of the baking industry made him an invaluable resource for seminar participants,” said Strouts.

Popularly known as “The Dough Doctor,” Lehmann has contributed hundreds of articles on dough troubleshooting and pizza production, hosted a series of radio shows, and has a series of videos available on YouTube. 

Photo source: doughdoctor.com