Leonard Jackson

Leonard A. Jackson, Ph.D.
Founding Director, Hospitality Management Program | Coles College of Business | Kennesaw State University

Hospitality business leadership, real estate finance, hotel asset management, analytics, entrepreneurship, and sustainable tourism.

Welcome
Welcome! I am a hospitality business scholar, educator, and industry professional whose work connects hotel real estate finance, asset management, lodging operations, entrepreneurship, analytics, technology, and sustainable tourism. As the founding director of the Hospitality Management program in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University, I work with students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners to prepare the next generation of hospitality business leaders.

My academic and professional career has been shaped by more than 30 years of experience across the hospitality, tourism, food and beverage, and airline sectors. Before entering academia, I held accounting, finance, auditing, asset management, and operations leadership roles with organizations including Hyatt Corporation and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. That industry foundation continues to shape my teaching, research, and program leadership: students learn hospitality as a business discipline grounded in strategy, analytics, finance, service excellence, and responsible growth.

My scholarship examines topics such as hotel real estate investment, lodging REITs, asset management, sustainable hospitality, corporate governance, environmental citizenship, tourism entrepreneurship, revenue management, and emerging technologies including AI, robotics, blockchain, and hospitality analytics. I have generated more than 50 intellectual contributions, including refereed journal articles, books, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, professional articles, and conference presentations. I am especially interested in research and partnerships that help hospitality organizations create value while advancing sustainability, community impact, and ethical leadership.

At KSU, I focus on building a hospitality management program that is industry connected, analytically rigorous, student centered, and future oriented. Through corporate partnerships, leadership development programs, guest speakers, applied learning experiences, and career pathways, the program connects students with employers and prepares graduates to lead in hotels, resorts, restaurants, event organizations, tourism businesses, real estate firms, asset management companies, and entrepreneurial ventures.

Areas of Expertise

• Hotel real estate investment, valuation, feasibility analysis, and asset management
• Hospitality finance, revenue management, lodging REITs, and financial performance
• Sustainable hospitality, ESG, environmental citizenship, and corporate governance
• Hospitality entrepreneurship, community-based tourism, and economic development
• Hospitality analytics, AI, robotics, blockchain, technology, and business innovation
• Lodging operations, franchising, management contracts, branding, and strategic leadership

Impact Snapshot

• Founding Director of Kennesaw State University's Hospitality Management program.
• More than 30 years of combined corporate, entrepreneurial, consulting, and academic experience.
• More than 50 intellectual contributions across hospitality, tourism, finance, sustainability, entrepreneurship, technology, and analytics.
• Recipient of university, college, and department-level teaching, research, leadership, and service awards.
• Developer of industry-connected programs that link students to internships, management trainee pathways, executive speakers, scholarships, and career opportunities.
• Consultant, executive educator, visiting professor, and invited speaker in the United States, Canada, France, Aruba, Panama, Jamaica, Bermuda, Costa Rica, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Connect
Students, alumni, industry partners, employers, media representatives, and research collaborators are welcome to connect about hospitality management education, student career pathways, executive development, applied research, speaking opportunities, and partnerships.

Email: ljack202@kennesaw.edu | Office: BB 420 | Phone: 470-578-6079 | Office hours: [By appointment]