(HARRISBURG, July 5, 2012)…Dr. Nicholas Hadgis has been named chairman of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Hospitality Foundation (PHF). Dr. Hadgis, founding Dean of the Widener University School of Hospitality Management, has served on the PHF board since 2006. Dr. Hadgis replaces James C. Miles, who is stepping down after six years serving as chairman.

The Pennsylvania Hospitality Foundation is the educational foundation of the Pennsylvania Tourism and Lodging Association (PTLA), created to provide scholarships, job training and educational services and to support the preservation and advancement of the tourism and hospitality industry in the Commonwealth.  During his tenure on the PHF board, Miles has overseen the Foundation’s main project, the Lodging Management Program (LMP), which provides high school students with academic preparation and work experience for jobs and post-secondary education within the lodging industry.

The PHF sponsors the annual Lodging Management Program State Competition, providing students from across the Commonwealth with the opportunity to compete in a variety of activities designed to test their skill level and professionalism in the hospitality management field. State winners go on to compete on a national level. In 2012, the high school students from Monroe Career & Technical Institute in Bartonsville, PA took home the international title in the ninth annual American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (EI) International Lodging Management Program. The Pennsylvania LMP has been consistently recognized as one of the most successful programs in the country.

Dr. Nicholas Hadgis assumes his new role on July 1. He has received numerous awards including the Lindback Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Howard B. Meek Award for outstanding leadership and service to the field of hospitality education, and the Citizen Diplomacy Award from the International Visitors Council of Philadelphia. Dr. Hadgis has lectured at the University of Istanbul as Distinguished Visiting Professor and has given lectures and workshops on strategic planning for the hotel industry in China, India, Ukraine, and Russia. Dr. Hadgis is the Past President of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education and serves on the Human Resources Committee of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.