Dr. Nicholas Thomas currently serves as the Director of the School of Hospitality Leadership in the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In this position, he is responsible for administrative oversight of faculty and students, academic programs, budgets, and strategic partnerships. He also has director-level oversight for the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation Center for Student Development and Engagement as well as the Center for Research and Education. He holds the faculty rank of tenured Associate Professor at DePaul.

Within the higher education landscape, Thomas is recognized as a passionate and innovative educator. He teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate-level on hospitality and tourism operations, customer service, technology innovation, and human resources. As an administrator, Thomas excels in the areas of fundraising, strategic planning, and academic program design. As Director of the School of Hospitality Leadership, Thomas has placed strong emphasis on engaging leaders from local, state, national, and international organizations to understand the evolving needs of the hospitality and tourism industries.

Thomas is a researcher in the areas of hospitality education and human resources. He explores hospitality education topics related to student career expectations and best practices in international collaborative learning. leadership. Thomas actively publishes his research in the field’s top journals and has been invited to present his findings in academic, industry, and public settings. He co-authored a human resources leadership textbook in 2019, with a second edition slated for 2021.

Prior to working in higher education, Thomas held managerial positions with some of the world’s most recognizable brands with a focus on luxury hoteThe human resources topics he researches include employee turnover, job satisfaction, and l operations and human resources training and development. He worked in properties ranging in size from 90 to over 7,000 rooms located in top destinations such as Las Vegas, Pebble Beach, Carmel, and Palm Springs. Additionally, he holds a FAA commercial pilot license and was a commercial airline pilot prior to his higher education career.

Thomas holds a Bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration, a Master of Hospitality Administration, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Hospitality Administration. All three academic degrees were awarded by the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.