KELLY SEMRAD, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Ph.D in hospitality management, University of Central Florida (2010)
M.S. in sports management and marketing, Saint Thomas University (2003)
B.S. in communications, University of Oklahoma (2000)
Curriculum Vitae

Biography:

Kelly J. Semrad, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management at the University of Florida.  Her focal area of research includes the application of econometric case study research designs to hospitality firms. Kelly has been appointed and served as a committee member on multiple NFL Super Bowl host committees, a World Series Championship host team, the All-Star NBA Jam Session, and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. She currently serves as an associate director for the UF Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute, a research fellow for the Dick Pope Sr. Institute for Tourism Studies at the University of Central Florida.  Formerly, she worked for the Florida Marlins and is the former owner and president of a sports and event marketing company out of South Florida.

Kelly has presented her professional and academic research at international conferences around the world. She has worked on numerous grant projects for the Curacao Tourism Board. She is the recipient of the 2010-2011 Outstanding Dissertation Award of Rosen College of Hospitality Management. She was invited as a visiting scholar to the Universiteti "Aleksander Moisiu" in Durres, Republic of Albania. Kelly has a growing number of PhD and masters level students that she mentors.  She is the serving faculty program coordinator for the undergraduate tourism and hospitality management degree; and, the supervisor of the Hospitality Financial and Technological Professionals Chapter at UF.  She has a wide teaching portfolio that includes graduate and undergraduate courses in tourism and hospitality management, entertainment, sports, and event management courses.  She has taught at multiple universities domestic and abroad as well as for the Walt Disney World Scholar Program.  Kelly enjoys traveling, research, rescues all animals; and, mostly loves her dogs but likes her cats too.

Research Interests:

• • The value of econometric case study research designs in tourism and hospitality
• • Price promotions in hospitality firms
• • Assessing the influence of seasonal demand on pricing structures in the lodging industry

Classes:
HFT 3832 Special Events/Meeting Planning
HFT 3836 Hospitality Management
HLP 6535 Research Methods
LEI 3836 Hospitality Management
LEI 6931 Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism (Hough Graduate School of Business)
LEI 6931 Strategic Management in Hospitality Business (Hough Graduate School of Business)
LEI 6931 Revenue Management in Hospitality Business (Hough Graduate School of Business)
SPM 5506 Sport Finance