Linchi Kwok, Ph. D

Dr. Linchi Kwok is a Top 2% Scientist, an author, and a full professor at The Collins College of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona), where he exemplifies the university’s teacher-scholar model. Dr. Kwok has distinguished himself through high-impact scholarly activities in the global hospitality community, innovative research and teaching approaches, and exceptional citizenship behaviors in the organizations he serves. In 2024, Dr. Kwok became the first faculty at his college to receive the Provost Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Activities at Cal Poly Pomona in 2024.   

Dr. Kwok’s research interests include hospitality management, service marketing, and information technology. Between 2010 and 2024, he submitted over 30 grant applications and received more than $170,000 in internal and external funds to support his scholarly work. His research often appears in top-tier journals, such as the International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM), International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (IJCHM), Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research (JHTR), and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CHQ), including several highly cited and downloaded papers. Reflecting the quality of his work, he also serves on the editorial boards of IJHM (as a corresponding editor), IJCHM, JHTR, and CHQ.

Beyond academia, Dr. Kwok is widely recognized as a thought leader in hospitality and tourism. He regularly contributes content to media outlets, including HospitalityNet, the No. 1 ranked website for the global hospitality community. His insights are regularly circulated through email newsletters to professional organizations. Besides interviews on TV and radio stations, his perspectives have also been quoted in mainstream media, such as The LA Times, Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic, and NBC News.

Dr. Kwok’s scholarly and creative activities have also provided immersive learning experiences for students. He was recognized as a COOL (Celebrating Outstanding Opportunities for Learning) Professor at Cal Poly Pomona in 2014. He developed and led a study abroad program in Thailand. He developed and taught a “Learn through Discovery: Signature Polytechnic Experiences (PolyX)” class, advising student teams to compete in the CoStar (STR) Global Student Market Study Competition. His student teams have won numerous prizes in the competition since their debut in 2019.

Dr. Kwok is an outstanding and engaging team player. He has developed and taught over 20 undergraduate and graduate courses at Cal Poly Pomona. His tenure as Chair of Collins’ Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) Committee between 2019 and 2021 was marked by significant revisions to the College’s RTP document (2020/21 - 2024/25). He then served on the University RTP Committee between 2022 and 2024. He was a Senator and a member of the Executive Committee at the University's Academic Senate between 2019 and 2022. During Cal Poly Pomona’s quarter-to-semester conversion process, Dr. Kwok successfully led the college's Curriculum Committee in restructuring its curriculum. 

Before joining Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Kwok was a tenure track faculty member of hospitality management at Syracuse University (SU), where he was named a Kauffman Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (2011 – 2013) to support the university’s initiatives in teaching and research excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition to his tenured and tenure-track positions, Dr. Kwok is a visiting professor at the Sun Yet Sen Business School (AACSB-, EQUIS-, and AMBA-accredited; among the top 3 business schools in mainland China) and has taught at Rochester Institute of Technology and Texas Tech University (TTU). 

Dr. Kwok holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. degree in Hospitality Administration from TTU and an MBA degree from SU. His professional portfolio also includes several years of managerial and hands-on experience in the hospitality industry in the U.S. and mainland China.