2022 Conference Legacy Lecture

Chairman and Associate Professor (Ret.) 

Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management  

School of Business & Technology University of Maryland Eastern Shore

Dr. Ernest P. Boger, a native of Tampa, Florida, is the University of South Florida’s first African-American graduate.  He earned the MBA from the University of North Texas, received Doctoral credits in International Management from Nova Southeastern University and earned the Doctor of Management (DMgt.) as a Sodexho USA Corporate University Fellow, via the Canadian School of Management-Revans University and International Management Centres Association (IMCA), of Buckingham, England.  Over the past 50 years, he has held various operational and academic positions in the hospitality/tourism industry.  These include, founding Director, Hospitality Management Degree Program, Wiley College, Marshall, Texas; Executive Director of the Resort Hotel Casa Monte-Jamaica Hotel School, Kingston, Jamaica; and Senior Lecturer, Tourism Marketing Management, University of the West Indies, Nassau, Bahamas, where he was a founding member of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), Bahamas Chapter. In 1984, he earned Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) status, and then Certified as a Hospitality Educator (CHE) in 1994, both by the American Hotel & Lodging Association.  Certification as a Foodservice Management Professional (FMP) was received in 1991.  Dr. Boger is CEO of the consulting company, VIP Hosts Internationale, Inc. and was Associate Professor in Hospitality Management with (IMCA)-Revans University, having served as Advisor to the Caribbean Doctoral Cohort.  

He is widely published on Hospitality Education, Marketing, and Tourism, with more than 100 scholarly articles and customized textbooks. He travels extensively while pursuing a variety of global consulting, professional enrichment, and industry/academic liaison activities, primarily in Africa and the Caribbean.  He is a past International Director, Secretary and Treasurer of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, Institutional Education (ICHRIE) and represented ICHRIE on the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA)Board of Directors. He founded Bahamas CHRIE and served two terms as President of Florida CHRIE. Other professional distinctions include:  AH&LA-EI (American Hotel & Lodging Association-Education Institute) Certification Commission; AH&LA HR Committee & Diversity Task Force; Founding Director, National Association of Black Hospitality Professionals (NABHP); Member, National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners (NCBMP).  His column on Hospitality Professionalism appeared regularly in founding editions of Black Meetings and Tourism. Additionally, he serves as a reviewer for The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management and HBCU Consortium Journal of Hospitality and Tourism. His quarterly column, “Triangulation,” appears in the contemporary webzine INUA. He was appointed by the Governor of Florida to the Citizens Advisory Committee on Coastal Resource Management.  He is a Founding Board member of the Multicultural Food Service & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA). 1988 concluded four years with the Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration (HRTA) faculty of the University of South Carolina. There he presented Marketing and Current Issues courses, plus held special responsibility for HRTA Faculty international consultancy development.   

Dr. Boger was named Head of the Department of Hospitality Management in the School of Business at Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1989.  The position was endowed by the Walt Disney Company.  A highlight of his tenure at Bethune-Cookman College is 1993 Program Accreditation by the Accreditation Commission on Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA), first in the state of Florida, and construction of a $5mm dedicated state-of -the art Hospitality/Business Administration Training facility.   

Dr. Boger’s leadership role with the University of Maryland Eastern Shore as Chairman, Department of Hotel & Restaurant Management (now Hospitality & Tourism Management), commenced with the Fall 2005 term. Assets managed include specialized facilities within the Richard Henson Hotel & Conference Center, additional satellite campus programs in Rockville and Hagerstown Maryland, and a $2.0mm J. Willard and Alice Marriott scholarship endowment. Immediate impacts were Initial PGA Professional Golf Management (PGM) Degree program Accreditation in 2008 and ACPHA Hotel & Restaurant Management (HRM) Degree Program accreditation in 2009. Both now enjoy current successful reaccreditations.  

For the past fifteen consecutive years, he has been named “One of the most influential African/Americans in Travel/Tourism.” by Black Meetings & Tourism Magazine.  The National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners bestowed its “Pioneer” award upon him in 1996.  

At its April 2000 annual convention, the AH&LA conferred the “Lamp of Knowledge” award for his dedication to hospitality education excellence.  The Florida Hotel & Motel Association selected him as its 2003 “Paul Brown” award winner for similar services to the State of Florida.  

In 2002 he was presented with the “Steve Fletcher Achievement Award.”  It is the second highest award established by ICHRIE. He is most proud of the Anthony G. Marshal award presented by the AH&LA-EF in 2006 for “lasting, influential and innovative contribution to Hospitality Education & Training.”  

In 2005 his credentials were accepted for membership in the prestigious London-based Hospitality Institute (IH), formerly known as the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA).  

2008 marked Dr. Boger’s recognition by the AH&LA as CHA Emeritus. It is the pinnacle of recognition for lifetime Hotel Industry professionalism. The distinction is held by  Twenty-five individuals worldwide, Dr. Boger is the only African-American. This was followed by receipt of the APEX Award from Travel Professionals of Color (TPOC) and Black Meetings and Tourism Magazine in 2009, for “lifetime contributions to the advancement of Hospitality Industry professionalism.” In 2011, Dr. Boger received the Tom Stead award from the Daytona Beach, FL Hotel & Lodging Association for distinguished contributions to Hospitality & Tourism Education. Most recently in 2013, he was awarded the Howard B. Meek Award. It is the highest award conferred by ICHRIE for lifetime contributions to Hospitality Education.  

Additionally, Professor Boger has served the local Daytona Beach, FL community as Vice President of the Daytona Beach Area Convention & Visitor’s Bureau; a founding member of the Beach Advisory Board; At-large Board member of the Hotel & Motel Association of Volusia County; Board Member of Sister Cities and Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC); and Past Chairman of the Board, Center for International Business Education (CIBE) at Daytona Beach Community College. A proclamation was issued on December 19, 2006 by the Volusia County Council commemorating “Dr. Ernest Boger Day. “Subsequent Daytona Beach accolades include a September 15, 2006 proclamation recognizing him for “promoting the hospitality industry and educating thousands of hospitality students in Volusia County.” He was delighted to be inducted  with the initial class, into the Volusia County Tourism Hall of Fame.  

Continuing the historical pattern of hospitality/tourism industry professionalism and service, he became a founding Board Member of Sister Cities of Greater Salisbury, Maryland, in 2006.  He was active with the Governor’s Ocean City Maryland Economic Development Commission and the Ocean City Maryland Hotel, Motel, & Restaurant Association (OCHMRA). He was a Board member of The Maryland Tourism Coalition (MTC), The Maryland Tourism Education Foundation (MTEF) and The Lower Eastern Shore (now Beaches to Bay) Heritage Area Council (LESHC). Additionally, the State of Maryland Harriett Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway Initiative engaged Dr. Boger’s services in developing Tour Guide certification training.  

He served with distinction as a military officer during the Vietnam era.  Dr. Boger is a UMES member of the African American Golfer’s Hall of Fame (AAGHOF), a Paul Harris Continuing Fellow Rotarian and is married to the former Carmel Brown of Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies.  

Dr. Boger retired from the Maryland University System/UMES in the summer of 2020.He continues to be active in global hospitality/tourism industry and academic circles, most notably with ICHRIE, NSMH, HBCU-HMC, IFSEA, TPOC and most recently, the Advisory Board of the University of South Florida -School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (USF-SHTM).