Lisa Young Appointed Director of the School of Hospitality Leadership

Lisa Young, an associate professor and director of undergraduate programs at DePaul University’s School of Hospitality Leadership (SHL), has been promoted to director of the school.

In her new role, Young oversees SHL’s graduate and undergraduate academic programs, industry outreach and centers, including the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Center for Student Development and Engagement. SHL is part of DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business.

Interim Business Dean Thomas Donley, who announced the appointment June 30, praised Young for “contributing significantly to our curricula by developing and leading courses that provide students with in-demand skills, hands-on learning experiences and a global perspective.”

A member of DePaul’s faculty since 2011, Young has taught a wide range of popular and innovative DePaul courses that include International Wine Management and Education, Big Data Storytelling and Business Analytics Tools. She also leads an in-depth study abroad seminar that brings students to key Asian hospitality destinations in Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. Her teaching excellence has been recognized by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International-Chicago, which named Young its Hospitality Professor of the Year in 2019, and by DePaul’s business college, which presented her with teaching awards in 2016 and 2018.

Young says her main focus as director is to foster student success “whether it is in the classroom, extracurricular activities through the Marriott center, or our requisite industry internships. The school’s ultimate goal is for our students to have successful industry careers upon graduation.”

As the world emerges from the pandemic, “the demand for our hospitality graduates continues to grow, whether it is in event management, restaurants or lodging,” Young notes. “A core objective of mine is to strengthen our current industry relationships and build additional collaborations in our rapidly expanding hospitality industry.

“I also will continue to champion our faculty’s cutting-edge research and bringing industry experience into the classroom, which ensures that our students are ready with the skills, confidence and experience to succeed in their careers, while providing value to our industry partners,” she adds.

Young brings both academic and professional experience to her new role. Before turning to academia full time, she served for more than 20 years in sales management positions with top-tier cruise, resort and airline brands. She is a published researcher and serves on the editorial boards of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education Research Reports, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, the Journal of Convention and Event Tourism, and the International Hospitality Review. She also has authored textbook chapters on a range of relevant hospitality, event and revenue management topics.

Young earned doctoral and master's degrees in hospitality administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has a bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State University.

She succeeds Nicholas Thomas, who served as SHL director for four years before leaving DePaul to join the faculty of School of Hotel and Tourism Management at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.