Karen E. Silva is department chair of the Center for Sports, Entertainment and Event Management in The Hospitality College at Johnson & Wales University. She formerly served as project director for External Affairs, creating a service management program for the university. She has also held the positions of director of advising and director of education, identifying goals related to the university’s retention and service missions.Silva, a native of Cranston, R.I., has been at JWU since 1984. She has expertise in strategic planning in all areas of hospitality and is well known as a motivational speaker, lecturer, consultant and training seminar leader.Silva came to JWU from The Travel Institute (formerly the Institute of Certified Travel Agents), where she was a curriculum specialist. Prior to that, she was assistant director of Sales for Collette Vacations. She has conducted training programs for Carnival Cruise Lines, the Miami Heat and the X-Games. She is the co-author of numerous publications, the most recent of which is Tourism and Hospitality (McGraw Hill, 2006).Silva received a doctorate in Education from Boston University. She also holds a master’s degree in Educational Administration from Rhode Island College, and a bachelor’s degree in English-Education from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Additionally, she is a Certified Hospitality Educator.Silva was named to the board of directors of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (PWCVB) and also serves on the board of First Works, a non-profit whose purpose is to connect art with audiences.
Silva has received numerous awards such as Faculty of the Year, Service Professional of the Year and the coveted Innovation Teaching Award from Van Nostrand Reinhold Publishing Company and the Council of Hotel, Restaurant Institutional Educators.