Board Members
Nancy Oswald
Board Chair
Co-Owner/Franchisee — Ruth’s Chris Steak House
A graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Communications, Nancy Oswald began her career in the restaurant industry at the award-winning Commander's Palace in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1978. Today, Nancy co-owns and directs Sizzling Steak Concepts and serves as its Chief Marketing Officer. The company operates eleven Ruth’s Chris restaurants – four in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (Buckhead, Centennial Olympic Park, Alpharetta, and Kennesaw), two in Alabama (Birmingham and Huntsville), one in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and four in South Carolina (Columbia, Greenville [2], and Myrtle Beach). Additionally, Sizzling Steak Concepts developed and operates a unique rooftop kitchen + cocktails concept, UP on the Roof, with four locations currently – in Georgia (Alpharetta), South Carolina (Greenville and Anderson), and Virginia (Charlottesville).
With a history of community and industry involvement, Nancy has served on the board of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) since 1993, served as Chair of the ACVB Board in 2013 and remains on the ACVB’s Executive Board today. The ACVB named Nancy as Volunteer of the Year in 2005 and she was inducted into the Bureau’s “Hospitality Hall of Fame” in 2011. Additionally, Nancy was a founding board member of The Giving Kitchen and first served on Giving Kitchen’s Board from 2013 - 2021. She returned as Chair of the Giving Kitchen Board in late 2024.
A leader within Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Nancy served on the parent company’s national advertising council as well as continues on Darden Restaurants International’s Ruth’s Chris Steak House Franchise Council. She was awarded a Doctorate of Foodservice (DFS) from the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers in 2013 and named to the ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE’s list of “100 Most Influential Atlantans” that year. Earlier board positions Nancy held include Atlanta’s Schenck School (1995-1999), the Georgia Restaurant Association, which she chaired in 2006, and the Advisory Council of the Freeman Business School’s Entrepreneurial Hospitality program at Tulane University.
Together with her business partner and husband, Mark Oswald, the Oswalds were honored by Ruth’s Hospitality Group, Inc. as recipients of the 2008 Ruth U. Fertel Award, an honor bestowed upon those individuals who most exemplify Ruth’s legacy of service, hospitality and commitment to the brand. In addition, the Oswalds were jointly saluted by the Georgia Restaurant Association in 2010, receiving the GRACE Lifetime Achievement Award. The Oswalds were also recognized as “Restaurateurs of the Year” by the South Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association in 2018 as well as honored by the ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE as two of Atlanta’s “Most Admired CEOs” that same year.