Medical Tourism and Wellness Hospitality Bridging Healthcare (H2H)

Introduction

Biography

Frederick J. DeMicco, PhD, RD, CGSP, is a Full Professor and holds the ARAMARK Endowed Chair in the Department of Hospitality Business Management at the University of Delaware. Formerly, he was Associate Director in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management at Penn State University, where he was Professor-in-Charge of the HRIM undergraduate and graduate programs for five years. He also holds the Conti Distinguished Professorship at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Dr. DeMicco’s research and scholarship interests are in international strategic management, hospitality leadership, and innovation. He has worked on projects with the Aramark Corporation for the last four Summer Olympics (Atlanta, Australia, Athens, and Beijing). He is on the editorial board of the Hospitality Research Journal, as well as the author and co-author of more than 100 publications in the area of hospitality and tourism management. Dr. DeMicco is ranked 12th among the 119 most cited international hospitality faculty, and he is tied for 37th (with Harvard’s Michael Porter) as a scholar most cited by hospitality education faculty.

He has sat on the boards of the Delaware Restaurant Association, the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, and International CHRIE. He was President of ICHRIE NENA (North East North American Federation).

Dr. DeMicco has taught and conducted research in Europe, Scandinavia, Australia/NZ, China, and the Caribbean (including cruise ships). He has co-authored the textbook Contemporary Management Theory: Controlling and Analyzing Costs in Foodservice Operations (5th edition) with James Keiser, Cihan Cobanoglu, and Robert N. Grimes, The book is used at approximately 100 CHRIE-affiliated universities and has been translated into Japanese. He is also the first author of Restaurant Management: A Best Practices Approach with publisher Kendall-Hunt. Dr. DeMicco is also a co-author with Dr. Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies for the book Hospitality 2015: The Future of Hospitality and Tourism, which looks at trends for the tourism hospitality and travel industry.

In 2008, Dr. DeMicco received the AH&LA Educational Institute’s Lamp of Knowledge Award for Outstanding United States Educator. LODGING Magazine honored Dr. DeMicco as the Lodging Industry’s Top Education Innovator for 2006.

Dr. DeMicco completed his PhD in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under Professor Dr. Michael D. Olsen. In 1996, he completed a sabbatical in Hotel Management at Walt Disney World, Florida. Dr. DeMicco also obtained a Ducktorate Degree from Disney University, Orlando Florida.

"Fred DeMicco shares his insights about the past, present and future of healthcare and hospitality. His deep and broad experience in the practice, education, and research aspects of hospitality and healthcare are evident throughout the book. He is a recognized expert on medical tourism and hospitality who has worked directly with iconic organizations such as Massachusetts General Hospital and Walt Disney World. . . . Whether you have been in business for 150 years or 150 days, this book is an invaluable resource that will show you how to make excellence a habit as you strive to delight your guests/patients."

—From the Foreword by Shirley A. Weis, Former Chief Administrative Officer, Mayo Clinic

"Fred DeMicco has delivered a medical tourism book that totally satisfies the 3Cs: it is complete, current, and comprehensive. The book has everything you need to know about the subject, it has lots of current examples and data, and it covers each topic very thoroughly. The book is well organized, contains lots of great ‘mini’ case studies, and many thoughtful and useful reflection questions."

—Dr. Chekitan S. Dev, Professor of marketing and branding, Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration; author of Hospitality Branding (Cornell University Press, 2012)