Oklahoma State University
College of Human Environmental Sciences
HRAD professor receives award
Hailin Qu recognized for leadership in hospitality education

School of Hotel and Restaurant Regents Professor Hailin Qu received the 2012 Founder’s Award for Life Time Contributions in Creation of Knowledge, at the Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism held January 5-7 in Auburn, AL.

The award was presented by Dr. Kaye Chon, Dean, School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The Founders Award is the highest honor that can be received at this conference and is given to a person who has made significant and sustained contributions to graduate research and education in hospitality and tourism throughout their professional career.

School Director Bill Ryan said this recent award acknowledges Dr.  Qu’s  impact on hospitality education at the graduate level.

"Dr. Qu continues to provide leadership to the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration and other institutions here and abroad in developing the next generation of hospitality and tourism educators," Ryan said.

Qu also holds the William E. Davis Distinguished Chair and serves as director of the Center for Hospitality and Tourism Research in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration in the College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University. OSU named him Eminent Faculty in 2011. Qu is the Editor-in-Chief for the refereed Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality and Tourism and has served on eight national or international refereed journals’ editorial boards.  Tourism Management, afirst tier journal, published a study that ranked Dr. Qu the 15th leading researcher in publishing at three top tier hospitality and tourism journals in the world.

In its seventeenth year, the Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism is an annual event that brings together students, faculty, hospitality management scholars, and graduate program administrators for research presentations, discussions and networking.

The conference provides graduate program administrators, graduate faculty, graduate and undergraduate students with an opportunity to explore research issues in hospitality/tourism graduate programs and to exchange ideas and information on "state-of-the-art" graduate student research in hospitality and tourism.