The Eta Sigma Delta (ESD) induction ceremony was held this spring in the MU Student Center. ESD is an international honor society that recognizes the scholastic and professional achievement among hospitality and tourism educators, professionals and students. The ESD is guided by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and institutional Education (I-CHRIE). Today, there are over 90 active ESD chapters throughout the world.

The ceremony celebrated the induction of 21 new ESD members. Members of this honor society are by invitation only. Only third- and fourth-year undergraduate students with a cumulative GPA in the top quartile are qualified for membership. The faculty advisor is Dr. Dae-Young Kim.

Under the guidance of faculty advisor Dr. Seonghee Cho, the Mizzou Hotel and Lodging Student Association was formed and recognized as an organization under the university. It has continued to grow as its first year as an organization comes to a close!

Earlier this month they visited the new management team at the Tiger Hotel and held a meeting introducing members to the many local internships available to them. In November, a team of students from HLSA will be attending the HX Hotel Conference in New York to present their research on the Kansas City hotel market. In addition, a visit to the Hyatt Regency at the Arch is scheduled this semester.

Individuals may contact the organization through Jacob Wilson at hlsamizzou@gmail.com.

Gary Shao (’17) graduated in May with a master’s degree under Dr. Seonghee Cho. He returned to his home town, Shanghai, China, to start his career at the HorwathHTL as a consultant. The company is one of the world’s leading hotel, tourism and leisure consulting firms and has 45 offices located in major cities around the world.

Shao’s responsibilities involve different hotel projects in the Asia-Pacific area including feasibility studies, renovation and repositioning, valuation, brand development, strategy planning, and market analysis and research. He is also involved in financial modeling to forecast pro forma P&L statements and determine return on investment of the projects and provide recommendations to clients.

“I am so appreciative that I have this opportunity to share my experience at the Horwath-HTL. I hope future students would consider the consulting industry in your future career plan,” said Shao.

Another master graduate, Li Wen, (’12) is also employed by HorwathHTL in Beijing, China. She was also an advisee of Dr. Cho.

Dr. Dae-Young Kim, with his former Ph.D. student, Dr. Kwang-Ho Lee, assistant professor at Ball State University, received the Best Research Paper Award at the 15^th Asia Pacific CHRIE conference for their study entitled, “Explicit and implicit image cognitions toward destinations and the prediction of behavioral intention.”

The conference was held in Bali, Indonesia, from May 31-June 3. The theme of the conference was “The Future of Hospitality and Tourism: Opportunities & Challenges.” More than 350 delegates from 30 countries and regions attended this conference.