Short bio
Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu is Provost and tenured Full Professor at Virscend University in Irvine, California. Previously he was Dean and McKibbon Endowed Chair of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the University of South Florida (2010 to 2025), where he founded the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, President of the Association of Global Educators, a Certified Hospitality Technology Professional, and a former Fulbright Specialist. He is included in the Stanford/Elsevier list of the World's Top 2% Scientists.
Long bio
Dr. Cihan Cobanoglu is Provost and Professor at Virscend University, a WSCUC-accredited private university in Irvine, California. He has about thirty years of experience in American higher education, including twenty-five years at public universities, and a career that began in Turkey and brought him to the United States in 1996.
He earned his undergraduate degree at Cukurova University and his master's degree and PhD at Oklahoma State University. He then served on the faculty of the University of Delaware before joining the University of South Florida in 2010. At USF he served as dean of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, held an endowed chair, and founded and directed the M3 Center for Hospitality Technology and Innovation.
Dr. Cobanoglu is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology (Emerald), a Social Sciences Citation Index Q1 journal, and has edited the Journal of Global Business Insights. He founded and chairs several international conferences, including GLOTECH, ICCTH, GLOBE, BEST, and GLOCER, and is President of the Association of Global Educators.
His research focuses on hospitality and tourism technology, e-tourism, and technology adoption, and he has co-authored and edited books and open-access volumes. He has served on the Board of Directors of HFTP, chaired the AHLA Technology and E-Business Committee, and served as a Fulbright Specialist. His honors include the IFITT Hannes Werthner Lifetime Achievement Award (2023) and the I-CHRIE Stevenson W. Fletcher Achievement Award (2020).
He has traveled to more than one hundred countries and is an invited speaker at industry and academic events around the world.
Using this bio
You are welcome to use these bios and pictures to introduce me at events or in publications. For a custom length or a specific focus, contact me. See also the Speaking and Media Kit.