Walter & Wendy Kwok Family Foundation Endowed Professorship in International Hospitality Management

_{With the generous support of Walter Kwok Foundation, we will engage in more research with an Asian perspective in knowledge creation and in development of the best practices, thus facilitating the industry to raise its overall capabilities, sustaining its dynamism and appeal in the long run.}

Walter & Wendy Kwok Family Foundation Professor in International Hospitality Management

Professor Kaye Chon

_{To cater for the needs of global leisure and business travelers, Hong Kong should build more hotels of international standards, enhancing the competitiveness of the hotel industry in the global market through the application of new technology and management know-how. The School of Hotel and Tourism Management of PolyU is currently ranked second in the world. I hope that through this Endowed Professorship, we can train up more hotel and tourism management talents who think globally, thereby focusing the travelers’ attention on the charm of this Asian metropolis.}

Founder
Walter and Wendy Kwok Family Foundation

The late Dr Walter Kwok Ping-sheung, JP

Donor

Walter & Wendy Kwok Family Foundation

The late Dr Walter Kwok Ping-sheung was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sun Hung Kai Properties from 1990 to 2008. He was a former Standing National Committee Member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Dr Kwok held an Honorary Doctor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering, both from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of London. He was an Honorary Trustee of Shanghai Tongji University and Nanjing University and a Standing Committee Member of the China Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture. Dr Kwok was also a Member of the Advisory Board of MBA Programmes of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and an Honorary Member of the Court of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

A staunch supporter of the tourism and hospitality industry of Hong Kong and China, Dr Kwok was the Honorary Treasurer of The Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners. Under his chairmanship, Sun Hung Kai Properties developed a significant number of notable hotels, securing its position as one of Hong Kong’s leading hotel companies.

Inspired by a deep love for his motherland, he championed a variety of educational, artistic and cultural initiatives in Hong Kong and China to train up talents who would contribute to society’s stability and prosperity.

Dr Kwok founded the Walter Kwok Foundation and the Kwok Scholars Association to support students dedicated to public service to study in the University of Oxford and Yale University. Through the Walter Kwok Foundation, he had made donations to charities such as the Foodlink Foundation and Suicide Prevention Services, thereby giving a hand to the underprivileged.

Appointee

Professor Kaye Chon

Professor Kaye Chon is Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management.

During his academic career spanning close to 30 years, Professor Chon has published over 200 papers and has authored or edited 10 books including the title Welcome to Hospitality: an Introduction, which has been adopted as a standard textbook in many hospitality schools worldwide. Professor Chon’s research on the topics of tourism destination marketing, tourist satisfaction, and service quality management have assisted many communities and organizations around the world in establishing sound management and marketing systems for tourism and hospitality businesses. In 2011, he was awarded the Ulysses Prize by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. A top honour widely considered as the “Nobel Prize in Tourism”, the Ulysses Prize is awarded annually to a distinguished tourism scholar with outstanding contribution to knowledge and innovations in tourism.

Professor Chon is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing and the Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research and serves on the editorial board of 10 other major journals in the field of tourism and hospitality. A former hotel manager and tourism industry consultant, Professor Chon was honoured in 2014 among the Top 10 Hoteliers of the Year in China. The award is a testament to the success of his endeavours to achieve excellence in both research and practice in hospitality management. Professor Chon is a graduate of the Georgia State University (Bachelor of Science degree), University of Nevada – Las Vegas (Master of Science degree), and Virginia Tech (Philosophy of Doctor). He has been listed in Who’s Who In The World.

The Endowed Professorship will enable Professor Chon to engage in more research with an Asian perspective, in knowledge creation and in development of best practices, thus facilitating the sustainable development of the industry. Research informs teaching; Professor Chon wants to see the School’s students rise to become leaders of the hospitality and tourism industry.