Makarand Mody
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs
Makarand Mody is a leading scholar of hospitality, customer experience, and service innovation whose research explores hospitality as a force for human flourishing. He is Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Hospitality Marketing at the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (SHA), where he provides strategic leadership for the school’s academic programs, faculty initiatives, curriculum innovation, and student experience. As Associate Dean, he is committed to preparing the next generation of hospitality leaders by integrating experience innovation, interdisciplinary thinking, and emerging technologies into hospitality education.
Drawing on perspectives from marketing, psychology, behavioral economics, and service research, Dr. Mody’s scholarship examines how organizations can create experiences that enable individuals, businesses, communities, and society to flourish. His work spans customer experience management, hospitality virtue, artificial intelligence, sustainable tourism, and the future of hospitality organizations. He has also made significant contributions to understanding the sharing economy, platform business models, and the evolving relationship between hotels and short-term rentals.
Dr. Mody has published extensively in leading journals including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, and Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research. His research has helped shape emerging conversations around hospitality as a driver of human flourishing, organizational virtue, and experience innovation. His work has received multiple best paper awards and is regularly cited by scholars, policymakers, industry leaders, and international media.
Before joining academia, Dr. Mody worked across hospitality operations, aviation, and market research with organizations including Hyatt Regency Mumbai, Kingfisher Airlines, and IMRB International (part of WPP). These experiences continue to inform his teaching, executive education, and applied research, enabling him to translate rigorous scholarship into practical solutions for industry and society.
An active contributor to industry and public discourse, Dr. Mody regularly advises hospitality organizations through executive education and consulting engagements. His expertise has been featured by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Travel Weekly, Skift, Marketplace, CBS News, and numerous other national and international media outlets. He also serves on the editorial boards of several leading hospitality journals and is a Faculty Advisory Board member of Boston University’s Initiative on Cities.
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