Schorner, a professor at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, NY, was honored by the magazine "for his outstanding contributions to the field of pastry."

Schorner was owner and pastry chef of Patisserie-Café Didier in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC before joining the CIA faculty in 1999. Condé Nast Traveler in 1994 named Café Didier the third best restaurant in America, and Money magazine cited it as having the best breakfast in Washington. Before opening his own restaurant, he was executive pastry chef for Warner LeRoy at Potomac Restaurant in Washington and Tavern on the Green in New York. He was also pastry chef at such distinguished locations as Le Cirque, Le Chantilly, La Côte Basque and L'Etoile in New York; the Savoy Hotel in London; and Cafehaus Konig in Baden-Baden, Germany.

Le Cirque owner Sirio Maccione has referred to Chef Schorner as "the best in the world." In 1988, Time magazine called Dieter Schorner the best pastry chef in the United States. Food & Wine lists him among "America's Best Chefs" and Gourmet says Schorner "is one of the indisputable grand masters of his métier." He prepared desserts for Presidents Nixon, Carter, and Reagan.

A native of Bavaria, Chef Schorner was educated at the Coba Institute in Basel, Switzerland and the Pastry & Bakery School of Sulzbach-Rosenberg in Bavaria. He served an apprenticeship at Café Winkler in Bavaria.