For release: October 3, 2012
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901-678-2843

Dr. Radesh Palakurthi

The University of Memphis has named Dr. Radesh Palakurthi as director of the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management.

Palakurthi came to the U of M from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he had been director of the hospitality management program. Before that, he was the Charles W. Lanphere Distinguished Professor and graduate program coordinator for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration at Oklahoma State University.

Palakurthi has been a tenured professor of hospitality management at San Jose State University and an assistant professor at the University of North Texas. His research interests are in the areas of the application of technology for marketing functions, consumer behavior, and higher education in hospitality.

He has authored or co-authored more than 150 publications in the area of hospitality management and is the editor of the Journal of Global Business and Trade published by the International Academy of Global Business and Trade (IAGBT). Palakurthi is president of IAGBT for 2012-14 and is on the editorial board of two other international hospitality journals. He has received several best-paper awards for his research, including the prestigious Emerald Literati Outstanding Paper Award.

Palakurthi has teaching and research experience in Europe, Asia and the Oceana. He has been a visiting professor at hospitality programs in New Zealand, Australia, China, Jamaica, Finland, Scotland and India. As the graduate program coordinator at Oklahoma State, he coordinated full- and part-time programs in the U.S., Thailand, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and Hong Kong.

Palakurthi earned his Ph.D. in man-environment relations, with a specialization in hospitality services marketing, from The Pennsylvania State University. He has a master’s degree in hotel and restaurant administration from Purdue University and an MBA with a specialization in information technology from San Jose State. He received an undergraduate degree in hospitality management from Florida International University.