Lisa Young

Lisa Young serves as the director of the School of Hospitality Leadership, where she is an associate professor. Prior to joining the faculty of DePaul, Young was a faculty-in-residence and the director of student leadership programs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas – Singapore campus.

Young was awarded the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) Chicago Hospitality Professor of the Year award for 2019. Additionally, she was presented with DePaul University's Driehaus College of Business Teaching Recognition Award in 2018 and 2016. Her primary academic focus relates to International Wine Management and Education (HSP 333 and HSP 798), Big Data Storytelling (BUS 215), and Business Analytics Tools (GSB 519). Additionally, Young leads an in-depth study abroad business seminar to key Asian hospitality destinations Singapore and Japan in December.

Young has lived, worked, and traveled extensively in Asia and Europe. Before turning to academia full time, Young served over 20 years in sales management positions with top hospitality industry brands, including the world's largest cruise line by revenue, the leading all-inclusive resort company in the Caribbean, a successful resort charter air tour operator, and an international airline. A key responsibility was creating frequent motivational sales seminars, special events, conventions, and trade shows to introduce clients to resorts, ships, and/or destinations. Selecting and pairing wines for special events was a key focus of her positions, and her territories included the major wine regions in California, Oregon, and Washington. She continues to explore and conduct research on wine management and wine regions around the world.

Young’s research has been published in several journals. She is the co-editor of the ICHRIE Research Reports and she sits on several editorial boards including the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, the Journal of Convention and Event Tourism, and the International Hospitality Review. She has authored four textbook chapters. Meeting and convention venues was included in the 5th, 6th and 7th editions of "Meetings, Expositions, Events and Conventions." Other textbook chapters include managing revenues and costs in "Hospitality: An Introduction" and a chapter on evaluating employee performance in "Managing Hospitality Human Resources."

To support hospitality revenue managers, Young facilitates the Certification in Hotel Industry Analytics (CHIA) seminar, jointly offered by STR and the AHLEI. The certification process provides recognition of thorough understanding of the foundational metrics, definitions, formulas, and methodologies used by the hotel industry.​​