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About Ellen
Ellen Kim serves as Associate Professor of Management with tenure in the Department of Management at the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, California State University, Fullerton. She is the Director of the Center for Entertainment and Hospitality Management, where she connects students and graduates with opportunities in Southern California's entertainment, hospitality, and tourism industries. Kim earned her Ph.D. in hospitality management from Pennsylvania State University, her M.S. in hospitality management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kyung Hee University in South Korea. Born in Seoul, Korea, she lived in Tokyo, New Jersey, California’s San Gabriel Valley, and Paris during her youth, fostering an early exposure to diverse cultures and the hospitality sector. She worked in hotels early in her career, finding reward in assisting guests and creating positive experiences.
Kim's academic interests center on consumer behavior in service settings, electronic word-of-mouth communications, corporate social responsibility, cross-cultural issues, service quality management, and service innovations. Her research includes a study on how consumers process competing positive and negative online hotel reviews, co-authored with Chung Hun Lee of Sejong University and published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (Volume 6, Issue 2, 2015). Forthcoming work involves interviews with non-native English-speaking tourists to examine service challenges like tipping and menu comprehension, drawing from her personal cross-cultural experiences. She received the 2021-2022 Scholar Award for the College of Business and Economics. Kim serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. As director, she emphasizes the business foundation of the program, integrating courses in accounting, finance, marketing, and operations, and seeks to build industry partnerships for guest speakers, internships, and employment. Her efforts aim to position California State University, Fullerton graduates as key contributors to the regional hospitality workforce over the next decade.