Prof Kaye Chon of Hong Kong's PolyU Honoured with Howard H. Meek Award

Professor Kaye Chon, Chair Professor and Director of School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), was recently honoured by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education (I-CHRIE) with an Howard H. Meek Award.

Named after the first dean of hospitality school at Cornell University, Professor Howard H. Meek, the award has been annually presented since 1971 to one hospitality educator for his or her lifetime contributions and outstanding service to hospitality education. Prof Chon is the first recipient of the award from Asia Pacific in 36 years.

I-CHRIE's President Professor Peter Jones, of the University of Surrey, said, "for over 20 years of teaching and research career in hospitality, Prof Chon has made exceptional contribution to global hospitality education development through his leadership and research contributions."

Prof Chon is past President and Chairman of the International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators and currently the First Vice Chairman of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Education Council.

A former professor at University of Houston in the United States, Prof Chon joined PolyU in 2000. Under his leadership, PolyU's School of Hotel and Tourism Management has been developed as one of the world's top four schools of hospitality and tourism management based on research output.

PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management was ranked fourth among the world’s top hotel and tourism schools based on research and scholarship, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research in August 2005. With more than 50 academic staff drawn from 17 countries, it is also the only training centre in Asia recognized by the Education and Training Network of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

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