Yae Sock Roh offers expert advice to hospitality entrepreneurs and
hands-on experience to students

Industry expert teaches franchising secrets

When Yae Sock Roh stepped into the Shilla Seoul in Korea as a teenager, the hotel's architecture, design, staff courtesy, and magnificent atrium and public space overwhelmed him. Today, this associate professor of marketing and hospitality services administration is an expert on the hospitality industry, helping prospective entrepreneurs and sharing his passion with students.

"I've always been fascinated by hotels, and ever since first seeing the Shilla Seoul, I've had a strong curiosity about how they are operated and managed," Roh said. "I am still trying to answer those questions."

Going above and beyond for his students

Roh, who traveled the world as a young man both with his family and as an interpreter for American tourists, developed his curiosity into an outstanding career. As an expert with ongoing, real-world experience, he is able to keep his students abreast of all the current business trends.

"It's important to expose students to the business world," he said.

He does this by providing industry examples, guest speakers, videos, group discussions, tours, case studies, question-and-answer sessions with industry managers, and one-on-one interaction - whatever it takes to connect students to the business world.

"It's not a one-way street in my classroom," Roh said. "We learn from each other, and I try to stimulate intellectual curiosity by asking them a lot of questions. I have found that, if I listen to them very carefully, no answer is wrong. Simply, it is different."

Every year Roh takes a group of students to the International Hotel/Motel and Restaurant Show in New York City.

"Not many teachers would take on that kind of responsibility," said Gary Gagnon, marketing and hospitality services administration faculty member. "He goes above and beyond the call of duty, and he gets to know his students well. That's something that's really special about him."

Keeping up with a fast-paced industry

As an authority in international franchising, economics of franchising, real estate, and hospitality investment, Roh keeps himself and those he advises in step with the economic times.

"I give them my honest and candid opinion," Roh said. "I don't want these entrepreneurs to feel good now about their business only to end up with a broken heart somewhere down the road."

Roh provides prospective franchisers with detailed analysis of their investment, including the necessary capital, projected revenues, debt to be used, operating costs, net income, and profit margin. Most importantly, he evaluates overall financial feasibility and expected return on investment.

But it's not always easy.

"This industry changes so fast," Roh said. "Even the small things like how you get into your hotel room have changed. Ten years ago we used the conventional key. Now we have a card key, which has cut down on costs and potential theft and other crimes. Even what I learned as a student is completely different from what I teach today."

Roh has tried to learn every angle of the business by working in various hotels and restaurants in his native Korea and in the U.S., from manning the front desk to holding management positions. He also earned a B.S. in hotel administration from Kyonggi University in Seoul, Korea, and a master's in hotel administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After obtaining his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1996, he taught at the University of New Hampshire before coming to CMU in 2000.

"CMU has been very supportive and has recognized my work," Roh said.

But the positive influence he has on his students matters more to him than his own achievements.

"I offer a lot of individualized consultation with students," he said. "Sometimes a small piece of advice can change the path of a student's life. I try to get them to recognize their own talent, to dig out their potential and cultivate it."

In terms of his future, Roh wants to remain a respected teacher, continue his research and consulting, and be a good family man to his wife and two children.

"Students who spend time with him are surprised to find out that this rigorous, demanding teacher is also a nice guy," Gagnon said. "He's very unique, very different."

Lindsay Bosley, '01, general manager of the Mount Pleasant Comfort Inn, prepares to take marketing and hospitality services students on a tour before they sign up for a job-shadow lab experience. Yae Sock Roh, standing center, developed the job-shadowing lab to give students a hands-on experience in hospitality services.

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