You might recognize Mark Tewksbury (Cook ’26) as the triumphant young swimmer biting down on his 1992 Olympic gold medal on the cover of Time magazine. In the years since, Tewksbury has built a multifaceted professional life as a keynote speaker, author, TV host, performer and public figure.  

The thread that runs through all his endeavours is his passion for sharing his story as a force for empowerment and transformation. When Tewksbury came out publicly in 1998, he was Canada’s first openly gay Olympian. His experience inspired his autobiographical one-man shows, 50 & Counting and Belong, staged at theaters in Toronto and Calgary.  

Tewksbury is a vocal 2SLGBTQ+ advocate and icon. He was inducted into the Q Hall of Fame — Canada’s LGBT Human Rights Hall of Fame — in 2009 and has received national recognition for his activism. In 2020, he became a Companion of the Order of Canada and was a part of the Canadian delegation at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in 2022. 

At 55, Tewksbury decided he was ready to begin another chapter. “My speaking work had me travelling constantly, and I just wanted to stay home in Calgary,” he says.  

In search of his next career move, Tewksbury headed to one of his favourite places in the city, the Calgary Public Library’s Central Library branch, to do some reflective journalling. “I wandered into the cookbook section,” he remembers. “I checked out a bunch of cookbooks. I was so excited, I completely forgot to journal! That kicked things off. My partner and I started looking into cooking programs.” 

Initially, Tewksbury explored culinary programs in Europe, but studying abroad was the antithesis of his desire to spend more time in Calgary. “When we stumbled on SAIT, we were like, ‘Wait a minute, it’s just a couple of LRT stops from our condo!’ That’s when I decided to explore what SAIT had to offer.” 

Tewksbury graduated from the Cook apprenticeship program in early 2026. “I became the class dad. Because the kids — some of them were 17 when we started — were too young to know who I was, it gave me grace to just enjoy school. I had never had that experience in my life. SAIT felt like a safe refuge.” 

True to his creative nature, Tewksbury dreamed up a unique way to share his newfound cooking skills with an audience. 

“We’d have people over and I’d show off techniques I was learning,” he says. “Guests were always wowed by those skills and, coming from doing one-man shows and speaking, I knew there was something there.”  

That seed of an idea grew into Inspirate, a three-act dinner experience that blends food, art, storytelling, sports memorabilia and conversation — a confluence of all the facets of Tewksbury’s career thus far.   

When he’s not cooking for a crowd, you can find Tewksbury whipping up a breakfast salad — yes, salad — at home. For fellow gourmands, he shares his method: “I mix a crispy romaine with arugula or mescaline and a couple other types of lettuce. I’ll incorporate a fruit like orange, apple, or dried cranberry. I’ll also add nuts — I have everything; you name it: pecans, walnuts, Brazil nuts. I top it all off with a citrusy dressing. Add some mandolin potatoes and a sunny side up egg, and you’ve got a beautiful plate.”  

Queue up Mark Tewksbury's breakfast playlist on Spotify here: