Posted on: Saturday, June 21, 2003

New dean picked for UH TIM school

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

The University of Hawai'i Board of Regents yesterday named Walter Jamieson as the new dean of the University of Hawai'i's School of Travel Industry Management, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of Chuck Gee in 1999.

The regents approved a three-year appointment and a $145,000 annual salary for Jamieson. He starts Aug. 1.

Jamieson is vice chairman of the World Tourism Education and Research Centre at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. He is also professor of planning and director of an intern program within the Faculty of Environmental Design at the university.

Jamieson was recommended to the regents by UH-Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert based on a search led by Lawrence Foster, outgoing dean of UH's William S. Richardson School of Law. Jamieson beat out two other finalists, James F. Burke, dean of The Collins School of Hospitality Management at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona; and Stephen L.J. Smith, professor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. There were about 50 applicants for the position.

Some 350 students attend travel industry management classes taught by about 13 faculty members. About two-thirds of students are Hawai'i residents and one-quarter are international students, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region. The school has an international reputation for producing well-trained graduates.

"One of the big strengths Jamieson brings to it is he has some very good Asia-Pacific experience," Foster said.

Pauline Sheldon, interim dean of the TIM School, said Jamieson has been well-published, supportive of research and successful in finding money for projects, "so we're hoping that those skills will translate into fund-raising for the school."

Jamieson holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and a master's degree in environmental studies from York University in Toronto, a master's degree in environmental conservation from the Edinburgh College of Art/Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a doctorate in urban and regional studies from the University of Birmingham in England.

Gee served as dean of the TIM School from 1976 to 1999. The search for a dean to succeed him was stalled while the university considered a plan to merge the school with the College of Business Administration. The idea was quashed after Evan Dobelle became president.