Professor Dogan Gursoy
WSU Pullman
I am the Taco Bell Distinguished Professor in the School of Hospitality Business Management at Carson College of Business and recently promoted to the rank of Regents Professor. I have been at Washington State University for over 22 years. Since started working at WSU in 2001, I have served the university at various capacities and on numerous committees such as Faculty Hearing Panel Committee, Catalog Subcommittee of AAC and GSC, Faculty Senate Task Force on Globalization, WSU Fee Committee, CCB Tenure and Promotion Committee. I have also served on various faculty mentorship committees from various colleges. During my 22 years of service, I have gained a great deal of knowledge about the governance structure of WSU and working effectively with faculty, administrators and staff across departments and disciplines.
I have also been serving the academia in various capacities including as the editor of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management (SSCI IF: 12.5), one of the top journals in the field. I am also an established scholar with over 200 research publications in refereed journals and 12 books. The scientific impact of my research publications is evident in the cumulative h-factor of 90 and over 38,000 citations (Google scholar profile). I am recognized and consistently ranked as one of the most prolific scholars in my field worldwide. I am the recipient of the 2021 ICHRIE Lifetime Research Achievement Award, the 2019 University of Delaware’s Michael D. Olsen Research Achievement Award and recently promoted to the rank of Regents Professor at WSU. I am also one of the few WSU scholars who received the Highly Cited Researcher Award and Recognition from Clarivate in 2021, 2022 and 2023. According to Clarivate, the Highly Cited Researcher Award recognizes the true pioneers in their fields over the last decade, demonstrated by the production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science. Clarivate states that of the world’s scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers truly are one in 1,000.
I am well aware of the challenges and attuned to issues of equity, inclusion and diversity in higher education. Many faculty, staff and students are facing significant challenges in their everyday lives, just because of being different. Even though WSU works very hard to create an inclusive and inviting academic environment where faculty, students and staff from underrepresented ethnic groups, socioeconomically underprivileged groups, minorities, LGBTQ+ community members, women, and immigrants are welcomed and treated equally, we still have more work to do to adequately address those issues and challenges.
Higher education and WSU are going through challenging times. WSU is faced with declining enrolment and national and global rankings, which present significant challenges for our students, staff, and faculty. Furthermore, the collapse of the PAC12 and the upcoming enrolment cliff due to significantly declining college age individuals are likely to present further challenges for WSU community. Addressing these issues requires a functioning and valued shared governance, and engagement of the faculty with the shared governance. I am a true believer that an inclusive and transparent shared governance process provides a unique opportunity for all our constituencies to work together for developing creative strategies to address the issues and challenges we are facing and to move WSU forward. If elected, I promise to:
- be the voice for all WSU community;
- promote and continue to support an institutional culture of being equitable, diverse, inclusive, creative, and forward-thinking;
- promote and foster initiatives to improve transparency, communication, and accountability in the shared governance process.
- promote and continue to encourage constructive collaboration among the Senate, faculty, and administration;
- identify and prioritize the most critical challenges faced by the university community and address them with urgency and diligence;
- promote and foster initiatives to improve campus wellness and quality of life of our constituencies.
I would be honored to serve as Faculty Senate Chair-Elect, and to work with all of you. As outstanding and committed representatives of our respective colleges, we can shape the future of WSU in these difficult yet opportunity-laden times by working together to make the Faculty Senate more impactful and vibrant. Thank you for your support.
~Dogan Gursoy