KARTHIK NAMASIVAYAM, Ph.D.

Karthik Namasivayam is Professor and Director, The School of Hospitality Business at Broad College of Business, Michigan State University. He joined The School of Hospitality Business in July 2021 after administrative stints at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne. Karthik has worked in the hospitality industry for over 40 years in various positions including as consultant, entrepreneur, faculty, academic administration, and hospitality management jobs across three continents – Europe, Asia, and North America. His experiences include economy and luxury full-service hospitality operations. He has taught in the US, Switzerland, India, and China at the undergraduate and graduate levels and has delivered tailored Executive Education programs for national corporates.

Karthik is widely published in leading hospitality and marketing journals and is well cited. His research explores the intersection between service provider and consumer. Consistent with the evolution of the hospitality industry, he researches the impact of various new technologies on consumer experience and consumer centric organizational design. He received the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education Bradford Wiley Best Published Paper award.

Karthik obtained his Master’s and Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from Cornell University. He has undergraduate degrees in Economics from Madras University and Hospitality Management from Institute of Catering Technology, Chennai, India. He speaks Tamil, Hindi, German, and a bit of French and Italian. He is a keen high-altitude hiker, mountaineer, and an amateur photographer.