FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Yao-Chin Wang has joined the faculty in the School of Human Environmental Sciences as assistant professor of human nutrition and hospitality innovation.

Wang is teaching Food Systems Management and is representing human environmental sciences, which is part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, on the school's Honors Program Committee and Graduate Recruitment Ad Hoc Committee.

"It is with great pleasure I welcome Dr. Wang to the HESC faculty," said Betsy Garrison, HESC director and professor. "I have no doubt that with his research and expertise, he will be a huge asset to the human nutrition and hospitality innovation program."

"The hospitality innovation and human nutrition, and dietetic faculty are elated to have Dr. Yao-Chin Wang join us," said Kelly Way, assistant director of the school and associate professor of hospitality innovation. "Dr. Wang brings an international flair to our program that we were missing. Combined with his expertise in human resources, festivals, events and tourism, this provides our students an additional slant on the global hospitality industry. His research and his leadership will be very beneficial to our students."

Wang was assistant professor and undergraduate adviser in the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Xiamen University in China from 2015 to 2017. At Xiamen University, he was also appointed managing supervisor of Snowlight Café by the university's School of Management.

He earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 2009 from National Chung Cheng University and his Master of Business Administration in human resource management in 2011 from National Changhua University of Education, both in Taiwan. He earned his doctorate in human sciences with specialization in hospitality management in 2015 from Oklahoma State University.

"Working at the University of Arkansas is a journey to start connecting my experiences in Taiwan and Asia to this amazing campus, where international exchanges and collaborations have been a living, thriving tradition," said Wang. "I believe our hospitality students are becoming future leaders around the world. Preparing students with profound knowledge of an up-to-date understanding about global issues in hospitality and tourism is my mission at the U of A."

Wang has earned best paper awards at the annual conference of International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education in 2017, an Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence: Highly Commended Paper award from the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management in 2016 and the Annual Graduate Education & Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality and Tourism in 2015.

He has also worked as a graduate teaching/research assistant at OSU, as a food service technician at Combined Logistics Command while on military duty in Taiwan and as an intern in human resources at Tempus Hotel Taichung in Taiwan.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.