The Induction Ceremony,聽hosted by faculty advisers Dr. Kevin Murphy and Dr. Po-Ju Chen, as well as chapter president Natalie Sixto, and chapter vice president Bethany Chester, was highlighted by keynote speaker Rick Spencer, creative manager & show development for Universal Orlando Resort.

As members of Eta Sigma Delta, students distinguish themselves in the eyes of educators, recruiters and industry executives. In addition, the honor society provides a networking system that allows for interaction and the exchange of information among students.

Members of the prestigious honor society also gain access to special functions at annual trade shows.

To be invited into Eta Sigma Delta, students must be a Hospitality Management major or studying a related field, with a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

For more information on Eta Sigma Delta and the benefits of the organization, please visit聽www.chrie.org.

Chen is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in 2012-2013.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The primary source of funding for the Fulbright Program is an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Participating governments and host institutions, corporations and foundations in foreign countries and in the United States also provide direct and indirect support. Recipients of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. The Program operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

Since its establishment in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late U.S. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program has given approximately 300,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in government, science, the arts, business, philanthropy, education, and athletics. Forty three Fulbright alumni from 11 countries have been awarded the Nobel Prize, and 75 alumni have received Pulitzer Prizes. Prominent Fulbright alumni include: Muhammad Yunus, Managing Director and Founder, Grameen Bank, and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient; John Atta Mills, President of Ghana; Lee Evans, Olympic Gold Medalist; Ruth Simmons, President, Brown University; Riccardo Giacconi, Physicist and 2002 Nobel Laureate; Amar Gopal Bose, Chairman and Founder, Bose Corporation; Ren茅e Fleming, soprano; Jonathan Franzen, Writer; and Daniel Libeskind, Architect.

Fulbright recipients are among over 40,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than sixty years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has funded and supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars, a division of the Institute of International Education.

For further information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State鈥檚 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please visit .

Dr. Chen received the 2012 John Wiley & Sons Award for Innovation in Teaching. The Award recognizes an ICHRIE member for聽his or her聽implementation of innovative, creative, and effective teaching techniques in hospitality education at the high school, diploma, college and university level.

The award was given to Dr. Chen for her innovative teaching methods, which include incorporating interactive learning, leadership exercises, role playing and media enhancement.

鈥淚鈥檓 very thankful and honored to have been given this prestigious award,鈥� said Dr. Chen. 鈥淚t is a remarkable feeling to be recognized as an innovator, and I鈥檓 grateful to all those who have helped me become the educator that I am today.鈥�

Past award winners include: Audrey McCool, Sandra Kapoor, Lynn Huffman, Janice Pratt, Joseph LaLopa, Lori Sipe, Cynthia Deale, Ravi Pandit, Rai Shacklock, Cihan Cobanoglu, Linda Shea, Godwin-Charles Ogbeide, as well as fellow 麻豆原创 Rosen College faculty members Dr. H.G. Parsa and Dr. Denver Severt.

In addition to teaching, Chen is actively involved in community outreach, both nationally and internationally, and she served as the 2010 president of the Florida/Caribbean CHRIE Chapter. Dr. Chen has also received several other awards for teaching and research.

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, ICHRIE’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.

On Nov. 17, the society held its largest ceremony in ESD history, inducting 138 new students.

Chapter President Jaclyn Carlisto-Harris, Vice Presidents Pamela Cutler and Aline Fenelon, and faculty advisors, Drs. Po-Ju Chen and Kevin Murphy presided. The evening鈥檚 keynote speaker was Vice President and Managing Director of the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress, Mr. Paul Tang.

ESD members are committed to fostering the growth of knowledge and promoting the advancement of the hospitality and tourism industries. At the ceremony, inductees pledged to uphold the high standards of scholastic and professional achievements established by ESD.

For more information on Eta Sigma Delta鈥檚 founding council, ICHRIE, and the benefits of the organization, please visit www.chrie.org.

Drs. Po-Ju Chen, Robertico Croes and Kevin Murphy set the wheels in motion when they presented a paper at the University of Costa Rica鈥檚 International Symposium on Tourism, held Nov. 21-23, 2011. The work was entitled 鈥淎griculture and Tourism 鈥� A Slow Food Model to Promote Sustainable Local Agriculture Products to Help the Poor in Latin America through Tourism.鈥�

As a result of the paper, the Rosen College鈥檚 Dick Pope Institute for Tourism Studies has entered into a letter of intent with the University of Costa Rica’s (UCR’s) Tourism School to cooperate on a grant to fund a study.聽The research will focus on the promotion of sustainable local agriculture products to help the poor in Latin America through tourism.

UCR and 麻豆原创 have a university-wide agreement to exchange research, teaching and cooperation. Currently, Rosen College is assisting UCR with their graduate curriculum development. Drs. Chen, Croes and Murphy have met with the following UCR representatives to discuss the project: Director of UCR Pacific Campus, Dr. Susan Chen Mok; Director of the Tourism College, Jorge Bartels Villanueva; and Director of the Tourism Graduate Program, Oriester Abarca Hernandez.

According to the Slow Food USA website, 鈥淪low Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is part of a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members in over 150 countries, which links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.鈥澛� For more, please visit .

麻豆原创 researchers in the areas of hospitality management, economics, sociology and civil/environmental engineering connected and were encouraged to collaborate on new research initiatives.

The luncheon promoted faculty scholarship while ideas of mutual interest that could lead to the development of competitive research proposals were discussed.

Rosen College faculty in attendance included: Dr. Po-Ju Chen; Dr. Robertico Croes; Dr. Duncan Dickson; Mr. Ron Logan; Dr. Kevin Murphy; Dr. Kal Nusair; Dr. Fevzi Okumus; Dr. H.G. Parsa; Dr. Manuel Rivera; Dr. Cheyenne Ro; Dr. Paul Rompf; Dr. Dipendra Singh and Mr. Scott Smith.

In addition to Rosen College faculty, other researchers included: Dr. Sarah Barber, Anthropology Department; Dr. James Wright, Sociology Department; Dr. Dingbao Wang, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Department; Dr. David M. Nickerson, Statistics Department; Dr. Jose Maunez-Cuadra, Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies; Dr. Tom O鈥橬eal, ORC; Dr. Amit Joshi, Marketing Department; Dr. Patrick Bohlen, Biology Department.

The purpose of the ORC is to foster new research activities among 麻豆原创 faculty. For more, please . The DPI is dedicated to increasing the benefits of tourism through research, public awareness and education. For more information, please visit the or e-mail dpi@ucf.edu.

Membership to this prestigious society is by invitation only and students must be Hospitality Management majors with a 3.0 GPA standing while in their junior year.

The Rosen College ESD Honor Society is pleased to be the largest chapter within the organization. ESD faculty advisors include Dr. Kevin Murphy (the founder of the chapter) and Dr. Po-Ju Chen.

Select Rosen College of Hospitality Management students and professors volunteered at the event.

The event grossed over $120,000 and all Bacchus Bash net proceeds benefit the CFHLA Educational Trust Fund, which provides scholarships and grants to the Rosen College and other hospitality education programs.

For more on Bacchus Bash, please see: http://www.bacchusbash.org/.