From the  New York Times: Carol Brock, Who Pushed at a ‘Pyrex Ceiling,’ Dies at 96

As a veteran food journalist at The Daily News in New York, Ms. Brock saw what she called a “Pyrex ceiling” limiting women in the food, beverage and hospitality industries. So in 1976 she formed Les Dames as an offshoot of Les Amis d’Escoffier Society, a mostly male gastronomic club named after the French chef Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935).

The parent organization, however, struck her as narrowly concerned with consuming great food and wine, and talking about it. Ms. Brock saw a need for something more. Her group would provide scholarships, educational programs and networking opportunities for women. Les Dames is now international, with 45 chapters and 2,400 members.

Carol Brock, a food writer who helped women advance in the male-dominated culinary world by starting an organization called Les Dames d’Escoffier New York, died on July 27 in Manhasset, N.Y. She was 96.