Christina Chi, professor of hospitality business management at Washington State University, received the Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award.
The annual award honors the late Professor Michael Olsen of Virginia Tech and the Wise Executive-in-Residence at the University of Delaware for his contributions to hospitality research and for his mentoring of graduate students.
The award recognizes scholars who have conducted significant research leading to important contributions to the body of knowledge in the hospitality and tourism industries and who are known for their commitment to graduate education.
On receiving news of this award, Chi said, “To say this is a tremendous honor for me and the pinnacle of my academic career is an understatement. I would like to thank the Olson award committee for recognizing my work, my nominators and endorsers for their support, and my incredible research collaborators.”
The award is supported by the University of Delaware’s Hospitality Business Management Department and was presented in early January at the 30th Annual Graduate Education and Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in Houston.
Chi’s research focuses on:
- Customer experience in cultural and heritage sites
- Sustainability in tourism and hospitality industry
- Well-being in tourism and hospitality
- Consumers’ food and wine consumption behaviors
Chi is widely published in top tier tourism and hospitality journals. She is included in Stanford University’s and Elsevier’s list of the world’s top 2% most cited scientists in the career-long and single-year categories. Her research is often covered by the news media. Because of her strong research reputation and academic standing, Chi is regularly invited by universities across the world to be a visiting professor, guest lecturer, research and teaching collaborator, and external reviewer for faculty promotion.
Chi is a research fellow for the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg, South Africa, and a research fellow for the International Center for Sustainable Tourism and Hospitality, University of Mauritius, Mauritius. In 2020, she was inducted into the International Association for China Tourism Studies as a fellow. In 2021, she was appointed as a member of the Research Grants Council’s business studies panel, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
