College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management

Our Faculty and Staff

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Kevin M. Ayres, M.S., C.C.M.

After graduating from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Kevin Ayres started his career with Marriott in the foodservice division and ran airport operations in Las Vegas and Cleveland before coming to the education division at the University of South Carolina. At South Carolina, Ayres spent six years overseeing the operation of Williams-Brice Stadium as well as the Carolina Coliseum. During the summer months, he was responsible for the concession and catering operation at Capital City Stadium.

Estefania Basurto, Ph.D.

Estefania Basurto serves as research assistant professor in The Richardson Family SmartState Center of Economic Excellence in Tourism and Economic Development. In addition, she serves as the Destination Management Team Leader for the center.

Matthew T. Brown, Ed.D.

Professor Matthew T. Brown has been at the University of South Carolina since 2005 where he serves as chair of the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management and interim director of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. He also teaches and researches in the areas of sport business and finance. Brown's research has led to publications in journals like the Journal of Sport Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly, Entertainment and Sport Law Journal, the International Journal of Sport Finance, and Sport Management Review.

Jessica Pack Chavis, M.S.

Jessica Pack Chavis earned her master's degree from the University of South Carolina and her bachelor of science in business administration from Winthrop University. Prior to coming to USC, Chavis worked as food and beverage director at the Forest Lake Club, clubhouse manager at Columbia Country Club, assistant manager at DeBordieu Club and food and beverage service manager at Benvenue Country Club.

Robin B. DiPietro, Ph.D.

Robin B. DiPietro serves as director of the International Institute for Foodservice Research and Education and professor. She has also served as director of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. DiPietro received her B.S., M.B.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Prior to her work at the University of South Carolina, DiPietro worked at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Rosen College of Hospitality Management, at the University of Central Florida.

Rich Harrill, Ph.D.

Rich Harrill has a strong record of success in and an international reputation for leveraging his academic and professional experience combining tourism with economic development and urban planning to drive local, regional, national and international business, tourism and economic growth. Harrill brings an industry-driven business mode and academic entrepreneurship to the university level.

Tatecca Hearon, B.S.

Tatecca Hearon joined the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management in September 2023 in the role of human resources manager before moving over to assist the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management as an operations manager in January 2024.

George Hendry, Ed.D., C.C.E., C.E.C.

George Hendry serves as director of McCutchen House and the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Culinary Laboratory. He is also a senior lecturer in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and coordinates the Culinary Institute at the University of South Carolina, located in McCutchen House. Hendry's professional certifications include ServSafe, ProStart, Manage First and ServSafe Alcohol.

Simon Hudson, Ph.D.

Simon Hudson received his Master of Business Administration from the California State University and his doctoral degree in consumer behavior from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom. Hudson is an internationally recognized tourism expert who has written books on tourism marketing, golf tourism, the international ski industry, sports and adventure tourism, and customer service.

Walter A. Jackson

Walter Jackson is a production chef for the McCutchen House in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In this role, his duties include teaching the management side of quantity food production, working with students on food preparation, kitchen safety and basic culinary knowledge.

Miyoung Jeong, Ph.D.

Miyoung Jeong, Ph.D., joined the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina in August, 2015, as an associate professor. In January of 2018, Jeong was named professor. Prior to coming to the School of HTMT, Jeong was on the faculty of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she served as a Ph.D. coordinator.

Kawon (Kathy) Kim, Ph.D.

Kawon (Kathy) Kim is an associate professor and director of the Ph.D. program in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. Prior to coming to USC, Kim served as an instructor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (2016-2017). Her duties there included teaching food service management and special event management. Kim has also served as a consultant and project manager with Be My Guest, a restaurant consulting company (2012-2013).

Darron Kirkley, MIHTM, MSEM, CHE, CHI

A South Carolina native, Darron Kirkley has been involved in the hospitality and tourism industry since the age of 18 when he was hired as the director of the Pageland Watermelon Festival. Since that time, he served as the tourism director for Kershaw County and as a high school hospitality teacher in Kershaw, S.C. Kirkley joined USC in fall 2023 after eight years as a hospitality and tourism management instructor at Central High School in Pageland.

William R. Knapp, F.M.P., C.E.C., C.C.A., M.I.H.T.M.

A graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, William Knapp has been working in the foodservice industry for more than 25 years in management positions, both front and back of house. Emphasizing his skills in the kitchen, Knapp has been the executive chef at a number of hotels, free-standing restaurants, and private clubs along the eastern shore.

Christopher Knezevich

Christopher Knezevich has 15 years of restaurant and bar management experience. Prior to this, Knezevich spent five years in the banking industry, serving in a wide array of positions from teller to manager, to investigating money laundering and fraud. Passionate about higher education, he has been working as an instructor for the past three years. Knezevich began at USC Sumter as a recruiter and advisor for Palmetto College, then became director of continuing education.

Marketa Kubickova, Ph.D.

Marketa Kubickova is an associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Hospitality and Tourism Management where she has worked since 2014. She obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Central Florida. Prior to that, Kubickova received her Bachelor of Science from the University of New Orleans and her Master of Business Administration from Florida Atlantic University.

Robert Lybrand, MBA, B.S.

Robert "Robby" Lybrand has more than 22 years of experience in the restaurant and foodservice industry. During that time he has held many positions such as executive chef, restaurant owner, catering director and food and beverage director. Lybrand has also worked in several different sectors of the foodservice and hospitality industry, including private clubs, corporate restaurants, private restaurants, as well as a corporate theme park restaurant, Le Cellier Steakhouse, in Walt Disney World.

Drew Martin, Ph.D.

Drew Martin, Ph.D., serves as professor for the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina. Drew Martin received his Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, and his MBA and B.A. from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He has served as interim dean for the College of Business and Economics, University of Hawaii, Hilo, from 2004-16, and from 2016-17.

Fang Meng, Ph.D.

Fang Meng is a professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina. She received her Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), and her M.S. and B.S. from Beijing International Studies University.

Brian J. Mihalik, Ed.D.

Brian J. Mihalik is a professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and in the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management. Mihalik is also the former dean of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina. Mihalik received his doctorate of education from Temple University, and two M.S. degrees with an undergraduate degree in business administration from Syracuse University.

Becky Moran

Since 2005, Becky Moran has served as program manager for McCutchen House, the student-operated learning lab and restaurant in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. In that capacity, Moran is responsible for the planning and promotion of McCutchen House events which include luncheons, private meetings, graduation ceremonies, special dinners, parties and receptions, in addition to the restaurant's daily operations.

Thomas Stowe Mullikin, Ph.D.

Thomas S. (Tom) Mullikin serves as professor of practice at the University of South Carolina School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Mullikin earned his Ph.D. from Columbia International University and currently serves as the chair of the gubernatorially established S.C. Floodwater Commission. In addition to his position at the USC, he is a research professor at Coastal Carolina University (School of Coastal Environment) and a visiting professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito - Galapagos campus.

Haemoon Oh, School of Hotel Restaurant and Tourism Management, professor, Educational Foundation Distinguished Professor

Haemoon Oh, Ph.D.

Haemoon Oh serves as professor in the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. Oh brings with him years of outstanding academic and administrative experiences. Oh also served as dean of the college from 2015-2020. Prior to joining the College of HRSM as dean, Oh served as head of the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management in the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass).

Charles G. Partlow, Ph.D., C.B.P.

Charles G. Partlow has more than 40 years of experience in hospitality management, consulting and education. Partlow came to University of South Carolina as director of graduate studies in 1990 and served two consecutive terms as director of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management from 2004 to 2010.

Lori Pennington-Gray, Ph.D., M.S.

Over the past 21 years, Lori Pennington-Gray has held a variety of positions at the University of Florida, including leading large funded research projects, guiding Ph.D. dissertations and curriculum changes and serving as director of three research centers.

Georgia Petritsis

Georgia Petritsis has been with the College since 2012 and brings project and event management experience from her time at the New York Philharmonic and the New York Botanical Garden. Petritsis builds and coordinates the master schedule, facilitates curriculum development, plans events, manages the budget and oversees logistical needs of the department.

Ashley Gaskin Richardson, M.Ed.

Ashley Richardson serves as internship director and clinical instructor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Richardson joined the staff at the University of South Carolina in July 2015 as the administrative coordinator for the Department of Retailing where she was responsible for administering the academic and financial operations for the department and also served as an instructor for University 101 Programs.

Scott Smith, Ph.D., C.M.P.

After graduation from the University of Central Florida, Scott Smith began his professional career with Marriott Hotels and held various positions in their hotel and resort division throughout the United States. Prior to his academic career, Smith also worked for Sheraton Hotels, Rosen Hotels, Walt Disney World, and Hilton Hotels in various management positions before returning to graduate school and completing his studies at the University of Central Florida's Rosen College of Hospitality Management.

Sandy K. Strick, Ph.D.

Sandy K. Strick, a graduate of Purdue University, has been on the faculty of the School of Hospitality and Tourism at the University of South Carolina for more than 20 years. For five of those years, Strick served as department chair, and in June 2007, she took over as the director of graduate studies. She teaches Wine and Spirits, Meeting Planning and Multicultural Human Resources courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Scott Taylor, Jr., Ph.D.

Scott Taylor, Jr., Ph.D., an alumnus of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Carolina, works as an assistant professor in HTMT as well as serving as the Wine & Beverage Institute assistant director and MIHTM program director. Before returning to South Carolina, he worked at the Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership at the University of Houston.

Ercan Sirakaya Turk, Ph.D.

Ercan (Sirakaya) Turk received his doctor and master of science from Clemson University in Clemson, S.C. Turk is the 2006–2007 recipient of the U.S. State Department's prestigious Fulbright scholarship to teach tourism and conduct destination development and branding studies in Russia. Before joining the University of South Carolina, Turk was a faculty member at Texas A&M University (1998-2006) and Pennsylvania State University (1996-1998).

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