Pamplin professor Rick Perdue receives lifetime achievement award
Richard R. Perdue, professor of hospitality and tourism management in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, was honored with the Travel and Tourism Research Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the association’s gala dinner.
Perdue’s service as editor-in-chief of the top-tier Journal of Travel Research; his participation on the Travel and Tourism Research Association’s board of directors, including service as past president; and his extensive research record constitute a “remarkable career,” said hospitality and tourism management department head Nancy Gard McGehee. “I can think of no one more deserving of this award.”
Perdue is also an elected fellow and former president of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism.
Perdue, whose research interests are in service management in resort settings, experiential aspects of tourism, and resort tourism development, served as department head for nine years before stepping down in 2014 to focus on teaching and research.
The award, McGehee said, has been given to only 18 people over the past 25 years. Perdue was nominated for the award by three past recipients: University of Hawaii Professor Emeritus Pauline Sheldon, University of Florida professor Dan Fesenmaier, and University of Colorado Professor Emeritus Charles Goeldner.
Perdue, who was named the Robert B. Pamplin Professor of Hospitality and Tourism Management in 2012, joined Virginia Tech in 2005. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Wyoming and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.
