Rachel Fu

Chair/Professor, Dept. of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management at University of Florida

Speaker

Dr. Rachel J.C. Fu has many years of experience in the tourism and hospitality business. Rachel is the Chair and Professor of the Department of Tourism, Hospitality, and Event Management (THEM) at the University of Florida, where she is also the Director of the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute (EFTI).

Rachel was the founding Director (2010-2018) of the Center for Sustainable Business and Development (CSBD) that provided a mechanism for building an interdisciplinary research program that combines business and sustainability science at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK), where she was also a Professor in Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism Management. Rachel was named as TnHTA Educator of the Year (Stars of the Industry Awards) for her excellence in research and development of workforce for the industry and was honored at 2019 Tennessee Governor’s Conference on Hospitality and Tourism. She was the Chair elect/Chair/Past Chair (2017-2019) of UTK’s Undergraduate Council and was the Chair (2018-2020) of UTK Chancellor’s Commission for Women. She was also an active member and leader in the community. She was a member of the Board of Directors (2018-2020) for Visit Knoxville and a District Chair (2019 & 2020) of the Boy Scouts of America for the East Tennessee Council.

Rachel was promoted to full professor in 2012 and has served as the graduate program director for 5 years (2005-2010) at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville (UTK). She was appointed as a visiting professor at Yale University during 2009-2010.

In the past decade, through serving as guest editor, associate editor, editorial board member (for 14 leading and well respected international journals), reviewer (for 9 leading international journals), and chair/reviewer (for 4 major international associations), Rachel has provided leadership in academic and professional organizations.

Rachel has published more than 200 papers, including refereed journal articles, refereed conference papers, a magazine article, newsletters, technical reports, and book chapters. Rachel's work has been featured in various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Condé Nast Traveler, Carnival Cruise Line, NBC, BBC, Bottom Line Personal, CNBC, ABC News, the Philadelphia Inquirer, AARC, KCBS, Recommend Magazine, U.S. News and World Report and UF News.