Jerry Agrusa

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty member has become the first U.S. recipient of the Asia Pacific Tourism Association (APTA) Founder’s Award, which recognizes a scholar or industry leader who has made significant lifetime contributions in advancing tourism research and/or industry practices in the Asia Pacific region.

Hospitality industry leaders recently visited the classroom as panelists and reviewers offering their industry knowledge and feedback to TIM School professor Jerry Agrusa’s Food Service Management (TIM 313) students’ final course project presentations. Leaders from multiple segments of the hospitality and tourism industry including hotels, restaurants, private clubs, marketing firms and the transportation industry were represented and offered valuable, practical knowledge and feedback.

The National War College (NWC) from Washington, D.C., recently visited Hawai‘i and requested that School of Travel Industry Management (TIM School) professor Jerry Agrusa, Ph.D., provide a presentation to the group on “Understanding the role of tourism in Pacific Island Countries (PIC) economies and how climate change and pandemics affect tourism.”