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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 25, 2003

UH closes in on travel dean

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i has culled its list of candidates for the position of dean of the School of Travel Industry Management down to three.

The final candidates are James F. Burke, dean of The Collins School of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona; Walter Jamieson, vice chairman of the World Tourism Education and Research Centre at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada; and Stephen L.J. Smith, professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

"We've taken some time to really look internationally to find somebody who can bring a new level of leadership to the school," said Pauline Sheldon, interim dean of the TIM school, who is on the search committee and chose not to be a candidate. "Each of them brings his own strengths from different areas."

The position has been vacant since Chuck Gee retired in 1999. The search for a replacement was stalled while the university considered a plan to merge the TIM school with the College of Business Administration. That idea died after Evan Dobelle became president.

The candidates will visit the campus next month. Sheldon said the committee hopes to make an appointment in a month or two and the new dean would start in July or August.

Burke previously served as director of the Accelerated Masters of Tourism Administration Program and the Tourism Destination Management and Marketing Program at George Washington University. He also directed the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and Centre for Tourism Studies at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto and served as chairman of the board of the Travel and Tourism Research Association and the National Tourism Foundation Board.

Burke holds a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College, master's degrees from Temple University and Utah State University and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota.

Jamieson is a visiting professor at the Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau, China, and a Heritage Resource Management and Tourism Consultant for UNESCO in the Asia Pacific. He is professor of planning and director of the Historical Resources Intern Program at the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary, and has served as associate dean and director of The Centre for Environmental Design Research and Outreach. He also led a Canadian International Development Agency project at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok.

Jamieson has master's degrees from Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and York University in Toronto and a doctorate from the University of Birmingham in England.

Smith previously served as chairman of his department at the University of Waterloo. He also was assistant professor in the Department of Park and Recreation Resources at Michigan State University. He is chairman of the Southern Ontario Tourism Organization, the International Travel Survey Working Group and the International Statistical Institute's "Marco Polo" Committee on Statistics in Travel and Tourism.

Smith has a bachelor's degree from Wright State University, a master's degree from Ohio State University and a doctorate from Texas A&M University.

The search committee includes representatives from TIM and its advisory board, the Waikiki Improvement Association, UH admissions, the College of Business Administration, Kapi'olani Community College and Hawaiian Airlines.