Dr. Kwok’s research interests include hospitality management, service marketing, and information technology. Between 2010 and 2024, he submitted more than 30 grant applications and received more than $170,000 in internal and external funding to support his scholarly work. His research often appears in top-tier journals, such as the International Journal of Hospitality Management (IJHM), International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (IJCHM), Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research (JHTR), and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly (CHQ), including several highly cited and downloaded papers. Reflecting the quality of his work, he serves on the editorial boards of IJHM (corresponding editor), IJCHM, JHTR, and CHQ.
Beyond academia, Dr. Kwok is widely recognized as a thought leader in hospitality and tourism. He regularly contributes content to media outlets, including HospitalityNet.org, the No. 1-ranked website for the global hospitality community. His insights are regularly circulated through email newsletters to professional organizations. In addition to TV and radio interviews, his perspectives have been quoted in mainstream outlets such as The LA Times, Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic, and NBC News.
Dr. Kwok’s scholarly and creative activities have also provided students with immersive learning experiences. He was recognized as a COOL (Celebrating Outstanding Opportunities for Learning) Professor at Cal Poly Pomona in 2014. He developed and led a study abroad program in Thailand. He developed and taught a “Learn through Discovery: Signature Polytechnic Experiences (PolyX)” class, advising student teams to compete in the CoStar (STR) Global Student Market Study Competition. His student teams have won numerous prizes in the competition since their debut in 2019.
Dr. Kwok is an exceptional team player. He has developed and taught more than 20 new undergraduate and graduate courses for the Collins College of Hospitality Management and the Singelyn Graduate School of Business at Cal Poly Pomona. During Cal Poly Pomona’s quarter-to-semester conversion, Dr. Kwok led the college's Curriculum Committee in restructuring its curriculum. His tenure as Chair of Collins’ Retention, Tenure, and Promotion (RTP) Committee between 2019 and 2021 was marked by significant revisions to the College’s RTP document (2020/21 - 2024/25). He then served on the University RTP Committee between 2022 and 2024. He was a Senator and a member of the Executive Committee of the University's Academic Senate from 2019 to 2022.
Before joining Cal Poly Pomona, Dr. Kwok was a tenure-track faculty member of hospitality management at Syracuse University (SU), where he was named a Kauffman Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation (2011 – 2013) to support the university’s initiatives in teaching and research excellence in entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition to his tenured and tenure-track positions, Dr. Kwok has taught at Rochester Institute of Technology and Texas Tech University (TTU). Internationally, he is now a visiting professor at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (RMUTT) in Thailand and was a visiting professor at the AACSB-, EQUIS-, and AMBA-accredited Sun Yet Sen Business School from 2017 to 2021.
Dr. Kwok holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. degree in Hospitality Administration from TTU and an MBA degree from SU. His professional portfolio also includes several years of managerial and hands-on experience in the hospitality industry in the U.S. and mainland China. He can be reached at:
The Collins College of Hospitality Management