Leeds Beckett University has appointed Professor Roy Wood as its new Head of the Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management.
Professor Wood, who will take up the new position on 1 May 2017, joins Leeds Beckett from the University of Macau, China, where he is currently Associate Dean (Curriculum and Teaching) of the Faculty of Business Administration and Professor of Hospitality and Gaming Management.
The Centre for Tourism and Hospitality Management forms part of Leeds Beckett’s School of Events, Tourism, Hospitality and Languages. The Centre consists of more than 20 academic staff teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level and specialising in a range of research areas, from operational hospitality management to responsible tourism.
Professor Rhodri Thomas, Dean of the School of Events, Tourism, Hospitality and Languages at Leeds Beckett, said: “I am delighted that that we have been able to appoint an academic leader of such distinction to this post. Roy is regarded very highly by his academic peers internationally because of the quality of his own research and his ability to motivate and lead others. In addition to his impressive academic credentials, Roy has a strong practitioner network which will help us ensure that the education we provide remains attractive to employers.”
Commenting on his appointment, Professor Wood said: “I consider it a great privilege to be joining Leeds Beckett University. Like the University, the School of Events, Tourism, Hospitality and Languages has a long and illustrious history. It has an excellent record of evolving and adapting to changing economic and social circumstances, and a strong team of academically and industry-focused staff. I am looking forward to working with my new colleagues under the leadership of Dean Rhodri Thomas to take the school to the next level and hope that my public and private sector and international experience will be able to make some contribution to this process.”
Professor Roy Wood holds a BA (Hons) in Sociology and Social Psychology from the University of York, and Postgraduate Diploma in Hotel and Catering Administration of the CNAA (studied for at Manchester Polytechnic), an MPhil by Research in the Philosophy and Sociology of Science from the University of Bath, and a PhD in Human Resource Management from the University of Strathclyde.
From 1996 to 2003 he was Professor of Hospitality Management at the Scottish Hotel School at the University of Strathclyde, moving to the private sector in 2001 when he became Principal and Managing Director of IMI Institute of Hotel and Tourism Management (now IMI University Centre) in Luzern, Switzerland. In July 2006 he travelled to India to join EIH Ltd., the parent company of the Oberoi Group, one of the world’s leading hotel companies, at the Vice-President level position of Dean of the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development.
From May 2008 to October 2009 Professor Wood was Chief Operating Officer of the Gulf Hospitality and Tourism Education Company in Bahrain, owned by the Dadabhai family of companies and the largest private sector provider of hospitality training and education in the Middle East. He then joined NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, as Professor of International Hospitality Management before moving to the University of Macau, China in 2015.
Professor Wood added: “I am keenly anticipating my relocation to Yorkshire. My father was born in Huddersfield and I studied for my BA at the University of York, making regular visits to Leeds to raid the shelves of Austick’s bookshop.”
Professor Wood is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of some 15 books and 50 research papers in refereed journals. His first book, Working in Hotels and Catering (Routledge, 1992; second edition 1997) remains a major reference point for the study of employment in the hospitality industry. He has contributed to, and co-edited with Dr Robert Brotherton, The Sage Handbook of Hospitality Management (2008) and edited and contributed to Key Concepts in Hospitality Management published by Sage in 2013. His most recent book is Hospitality Management: A Brief Introduction (Sage, 2015).
Professor Wood has been a member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (for tourism and hospitality subjects) since 2002 and holds or has held numerous visiting academic appointments in universities in Europe and Asia. He has advised a number of private equity organisations on the acquisition and management of hotel and tourism management schools. He is a Fellow of both the UK Higher Education Academy and the UK Institute of Hospitality. In May 2014 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the UK Council for Hospitality Management Education (CHME) in recognition of his contribution to the field.