May 29--UNLV professor Stowe Shoemaker was named the new dean of the university's world-renowned hotel college on Wednesday.

Shoemaker, a Lincy scholar at the Harrah College of Hotel Administration, will assume his new position on July 1, said UNLV's Executive Vice President John Valery White. Shoemaker succeeds Don Snyder, who stepped down to lead the UNLV Now stadium project.

"The Harrah Hotel College, as a top program in the hospitality industry, is poised to take advantage of the transformation of the hospitality industry over the previous decades," White said in a statement. "Shoemaker's diverse experience in hospitality education and executive education in the hospitality sector give him great insight he can bring to bear to preserve the college's top position while strengthening its capacity in new and changing areas of the fast-moving hospitality industry."

Shoemaker has consulting experience in a variety of hospitality fields, including gaming, hotels, airlines, cruise ships and major medical centers. His background is in pricing, revenue management and customer-loyalty programs.

During his career, Shoemaker helped gaming developers test new casino games, such as slot machines and table games, and worked with British Airways on its pricing strategy. He also helped major hotel companies, such as Hilton and Hyatt, create new loyalty programs and programs to measure customer satisfaction.

Shoemaker also worked extensively with the University of Texas' M.D. Anderson Cancer Center to improve patient satisfaction. He is currently helping to write a strategic plan to bring health care tourism to Southern Nevada.

In the classroom, Shoemaker has taught marketing strategy, revenue management and the mathematics behind casino games. The award-winning researcher is the author of two marketing textbooks on hospitality and tourism.

Shoemaker spent his first nine years of his academic career at UNLV and eight years at the University of Houston as associate dean of research at its Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

Shoemaker was also on the executive education faculty at Cornell University for 17 years and a visiting scholar at the ecole h"teliere de Lausanne in Switzerland. He returned to UNLV in 2012 as a Lincy professor.

"It's an honor to be appointed as the dean of the (UNLV hotel college)," Shoemaker said in a statement. "I look forward to working with our faculty and staff, our industry partners, students, community members and university leaders, as the college embarks on the future."

Shoemaker has a Ph.D. in services marketing from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, a master's degree in hotel restaurant and travel administration from the University of Massachusetts and a bachelor's degree from the University of Vermont.

Snyder, who is working on UNLV's "mega-events center" project, said he planned to help Shoemaker take the reins of the Hotel College. The school, which has 3,000 students, is working on plans for a new $50 million building.

"It was a pleasure serving as the dean and I look forward to continuing my commitment toward revitalizing the UNLV campus," Snyder said in a statement. "I am extremely supportive of Stowe's appointment and excited to do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition and help fully integrate Stowe to the community and industry."

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