Kim H. Williams Ph.D.

Dr. Kim Williams started in her role as the Chair of the Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management at the University of North Texas (UNT) in February 2019.  Dr. Williams was named the Robert Dedman Endowed Chair in Club Management and serves as the Faculty Advisor for the UNT CMAA Student Chapter.  Dr. Williams was selected as a Leadership Fellow in the UNT Faculty Leadership program for the 2019-20 academic year.  She was also appointed to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Hospitality Administration Field of Study Advisory Committee.   Dr. Williams serves as the Faculty Advisor for the Disney College Program in partnership with the UNT Career Center.  Dr. Williams’ research interests include hotel operations, human resources, crime and tourism, resilience, business continuity, and virtual reality in hospitality training.  Williams has published in numerous journals including the Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, Advances in Hospitality and Leisure, and the International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration.  She presented her research at conferences in Hong Kong, Dubai, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. She received the Best Paper Award at ICHRIE for a paper entitled, “A Conceptual Framework for Attracting Generation Y to the Hotel Industry Using a Seamless Hotel Organizational Structure.” Dr. Williams was featured in the City Business-New Orleans Ones to Watch for Education for 2018.