Lan Jiang

Lan Jiang

I fell in love with Southwest Florida, but it was the working environment at FGCU that attracted me

Meet Lan

Lan Jiang earned his undergraduate degree in tourism management from Sun Yat-sen University, considered the No. 1 tourism school in China. He earned his master’s in hotel management from Michigan State University, and his Ph.D. in hospitality administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In 2014, Dr. Jiang joined FGCU. “I fell in love with Southwest Florida, but it was the working environment at FGCU that attracted me,” he said. “It’s not just that it’s a small program with faculty who get along with each other, it’s also the students. They have experience. They have a passion for the hospitality industry. And it’s easy and satisfying to communicate with students who have the interest and the experience and who are eager to learn.

“I believe the greatest strength of our program is our industry connections. We maintain good relationships with more than 300 of the area’s finest resorts, hotels, private clubs, events, spas, food and beverage and other industry-related contacts. We have a good reputation. Our connections translate into internships and jobs. When students enter our program, they know what they’ll be doing after graduation,” he said.

When advising his students, he said that the three key elements when it comes to choosing a career (which he summarizes as “LAN,” the letters in his first name) are: “You must LIKE your job, or you’ll not feel happy and you’ll not satisfy your customer. You must have a positive ATTITUDE, and you must be NICE to your colleagues, your guests and your family.”

In the three short years Dr. Jiang has been with FGCU, he has published seven peer-reviewed journal papers and 13 peer-reviewed conference papers. In 2016, he received the Junior Faculty Excellence Award presented by the Lutgert College of Business.

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