Rosen College of Hospitality Management Professor Dr. H.G. Parsa was recently awarded the John Wiley & Sons Lifetime Research Achievement Award from the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (ICHRIE).
This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Parsa’s outstanding leadership in his field of study and his significant contributions to hospitality and tourism through published scholarly research. Nominations for this international award were accepted from around the world. Dr. Parsa is the 16th ICHRIE member to win this research achievement award and only the second in the state of Florida.
Dr. Parsa received the award during the ICHRIE 2011 Annual Conference held July 27-30 in Denver, Colorado. The award was presented by ICHRIE President, Ms. Susan Fournier and Dr. Dennis Reynolds with Washington State University in front of more than 500 attendees representing over 27 countries.
Additionally, UCF President Dr. John C. Hitt acknowledged Dr. Parsa’s accomplishment to the UCF Board of Trustees at its Sept. 28 meeting.
“It’s an honor and I’m grateful for this,” shares Dr. Parsa. “This award could not have been possible without the help of my students, colleagues and research associates over the last 20 years.”
He has been a member of ICHRIE since 1989 and is a past recipient of the organization’s John Wiley & Sons Teaching Innovation and Bradford Wiley Excellence in Research Awards. Over the past two decades, Dr. Parsa served the ICHRIE community with an active research agenda that includes over 200 presentations/publications. He has played an active role on several ICHRIE committees including the Services SIG nominations committee, and as the founding organizer of the Research SIG awards committee. Additionally, Dr. Parsa was an active contributor to development of the ICHRIE Career Academy.
He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research and his work has appeared in refereed journals such as Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Tourism Management, Journal of Services Research, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research. Previously, Dr. Parsa was Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Foodservice Business Research.
Dr. Parsa is best known for his paper “Why Restaurants Fail?” published in the Cornell Quarterly, which was the most downloaded paper in the hospitality field for 2005. His research interests include: pricing strategies in foodservice; analysis of factors that contribute to small-business failure/success; sustainability and green practices in hospitality; franchising and quick-service restaurant-chain management; strategic marketing in hospitality; and changing American food habits. Dr. Parsa has secured several major research grants from various government and private agencies.
Prior to joining academia, Dr. Parsa spent more than a decade in the hospitality industry, working with several restaurant chains, private clubs and institutional foodservice operators. He has consulted major hospitality companies such as Marriott Foodservice Operations, McDonald’s International and White Castle. In addition to ICHRIE, he is a member of the Association for Consumer Research and the Society for Consumer Psychology.
About International CHRIE
Founded in 1946, the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education is the global advocate of hospitality and tourism education for schools, colleges and universities offering programs in hotel and restaurant management, foodservice management and culinary arts. In recent years, International CHRIE’s focus has expanded and its mission statement has evolved, making it a marketplace for facilitating exchanges of information, ideas, research, products and services related to education, training and resource development for the hospitality and tourism industry (food, lodging, recreation and travel services). Serving as the hospitality and tourism education network, we strive to unite educators, industry executives and associations. For more information, visit www.chrie.org.