Rosen College Professors Honored with Pre-eminent Status

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Rosen College Professors Honored with Pre-eminent Status

UCF Rosen College of Hospitality Management is ranked second in the world among the top hospitality colleges. A contributing factor to that ranking is attributed to the college’s stellar faculty, who hail from 17 different countries around the globe. At the recent faculty retreat, two of the college’s distinguished professors were honored for their outstanding contributions in the classroom, for their thought-provoking research and their overall contributions to the hospitality industry. We congratulate Dr. Fevzi Okumus and Dr. Youcheng Wang on their achievements.

Dr. Fevzi Okumus was honored with the tittle of CFHLA Preeminent Professorship in Lodging Management with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Dr. Okumus is a Professor in the Hospitality Services Department. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Hotel Management from Oxford Brookes University, UK. He has a Master of Science degree in International Hotel Management from Oxford Brookes University, UK, and a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality and tourism from Cukurova University, Turkey. Dr. Okumus worked in the hotel industry before becoming an educator. He joined the Rosen College of Hospitality Management in 2005 and was the founding Chair of the Hospitality Services Department from 2007-2013. Dr. Okumus’ teaching and consultancy areas include strategic management, leadership development, strategic human resources management, hotel management, international hospitality management and introduction to hospitality and tourism. His research areas include sustainability and green practices, strategy implementation, competitive advantage, knowledge management, hotel management, lodging operations, crisis management, cross-cultural management, destination marketing, information technology and developing countries. Dr. Okumus has over 180 academic publications, approximately 80 refereed journal articles, three books, 11 book chapters and 65 conference presentations and reports.

Dr. Youcheng Wang was honored with the title of William C Peeper Preeminent Professorship in Destination Marketing with all the rights and privileges pertaining thereto. Dr. Wang is a Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs & Research at the Rosen College His teaching areas includes destination marketing and management, information system management, technology and e-commerce strategy, and research methods in hospitality and tourism. Dr. Wang’s research interest focuses on hospitality marketing, destination marketing and management, customer relationship management, information search behavior, collaborative strategies, and technology management. He is the author of three books and more than 100 scientific publications. He is the co-editor of Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, and is on the Editorial Board of nine international academic journals in the domain of hospitality and tourism marketing and management. Dr. Wang has consulting experience in the areas of destination marketing and development, technology and e-commerce strategies for hospitality and tourism organizations, collaborative strategies for regional destination marketing and management, and experiential marketing.

— (September 18, 2017)