University of Central Florida Rosen College of Hospitality Management Collection

Hospitality Management began as a program in 1983 in the College of Business Administration at the University of Central Florida, an outgrowth of the Dick Pope Institute for Tourism Studies established in 1979. In 2000, the program was elevated to the status of a full school outside the College of Business and came to be called the Rosen School of Hospitality Management. Shortly after opening its new campus in 2004, the Rosen School of Hospitality Management officially became the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

In 1998, Harris and Tricia Rosen pledged to gift UCF $10 million dollars to build a new school called Rosen School of Hospitality Management, with the caveat that the new hotel Rosen planned on building is a success. By 2000, the Rosens finalized their plan to include 25 acres of valuable land. As a result, the total amount that Rosen gifted UCF was $18 million dollars (the 25 acres donated was worth $8 million), which helped jumpstart the construction of the new campus. The Rosens also donated an additional $1.1 million for scholarships. The new campus opened in 2004 and its status as a separate School was established.

Harris Rosen is a well-known hotelier and philanthropist in the Orlando area. He served as President and COO of Rosen Hotels and Resorts, a hotel management company with seven properties and more than 5000 rooms in Orlando since 1974. He was voted Central Floridian of the Year in January 2012.

The key faculty members who helped elevate UCF's hospitality program to the next level were Mr. Robert Ashley, Dr. Deborah Breiter, Dr. Bill Fisher, Dr. Stephen LeBruto, Dr. Ady Milman, Dr. Christopher Muller, Dr. Abraham Pizam, and Dr. Randall Upchurch. Building on what their predecessors began, these and other faculty members helped update the curriculum, design the new campus, and ensure the financial and operational stability for the growing program.

Dr. Christopher Muller was Associate/Assistant Professor from 1999-2010. He is responsible for creating the Center for Multi-Unit Restaurant Management in 1999, where he served as Director, and as a result, a standalone Restaurant Management undergraduate degree was approved in 2002. He also served as Darden Eminent Scholar Chair in Restaurant Management which was previously called endowed chair in Restaurant Management in the early 1990s.

Dr. Abraham Pizam joined UCF in 1983 as Director of the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies, which had been established in 1979 in the College of Business Administration in honor of Dick Pope, Sr. He was hired to establish UCF's original hospitality program. As of 2018, Dr. Pizam stands as Linda Chapin Eminent Scholar Chair in Tourism Management in the Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Source: Tim Bottorff "A Hospitality Program Like No Other: A Brief History of UCF's Rosen College of Hospitality Management", retrieved from [url=https://hospitality.ucf.edu/about-rosen-college/history/]https://hospitality.ucf.edu/about-rosen-college/history/[/url]. Additional sources: [url=https://www.rosenhotels.com/about-us/meet-the-team/harris-rosen/]https://www.rosenhotels.com/about-us/meet-the-team/harris-rosen/[/url]; [url=https://2015-2016.graduatecatalog.ucf.edu/content/colleges.aspx?id=5876]https://2015-2016.graduatecatalog.ucf.edu/content/colleges.aspx?id=5876[/url]; and [url=https://hospitality.ucf.edu/person/dr-abraham-pizam/]https://hospitality.ucf.edu/person/dr-abraham-pizam/[/url].