The Educational Institute of the American Hotel & Lodging Association has selected UNLV's Stuart Mann, dean of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, as the recipient of the inaugural Anthony G. Marshall Outstanding Education Leadership Award, named for the renowned president of the Educational Institute and Dean Emeritus of Florida International University. The award recognizes a lasting, influential and innovative contribution to educating and training in the hospitality industry.

The award will be presented during the Stars of the Industry Luncheon at the Las Vegas International Hotel & Restaurant Show at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center , South Pacific Ballroom, on Thursday, April 28 from 12:30-2 p.m.

"We are proud to honor Dean Stuart Mann for his outstanding contributions in hospitality education," said Anthony G. Marshall. "Through his leadership and innovative thinking he has proven to be a pioneer in our industry - always striving for ways to improve through educating."

With Mann's support and guidance, the Harrah Hotel College has expanded its programs to include a B.S. in gaming management, a B.S. in culinary arts management, and also created majors in the following specific areas of hotel management: beverage management, foodservice management, lodging and resort management, and meetings and events management.

During his tenure he has concentrated on two key directives for the college - the formalization of international programs and creating diversity within the college.

Through these directives, UNLV has signed memorandums of understanding for cooperation with universities in Korea , Japan , China , Australia , Macao and Hong Kong . It has also created a UNLV-Singapore campus that will allow students to complete the last two years of their B.S. degree in hotel administration in Singapore . This campus will open in 2006.

Also recognizing the need for support for under-represented groups, the MGM MIRAGE provided a $500,000 gift to focus on diversity programs in the Hotel College . With these monies and other special gift funds, Mann has established various diversity initiatives including scholarship funds and hiring a director of diversity initiatives.

Mann also keeps his pulse on the changing trends in the hospitality industry with a National Advisory Board he created consisting of business leaders from all areas of hospitality and leisure services who give their expertise and advice on the industry.

Mann holds the Michael D. Rose Distinguished Chair and is a faculty member in the hotel management department, as well as being dean. He is the author of over 35 published research papers focusing on problem-solving and decision-making. His more recent publications deal with both multi-objective and multi-criteria decision-making and simulation methods for training hospitality employees.

Prior to joining UNLV in August 1998, he was professor of operations research and director of the School of Hotel , Restaurant and Recreation Management at Penn State University . He received his B.S. in mathematics from the University of Illinois and his M.S. and Ph.D. in operations research from Case Western Reserve University .

Mann currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Nevada Hotel and Lodging Association and the Nevada Hospitality Foundation. He serves as a member of the advisory board for NTN Communications, Inc., Advanced Interface Technologies, Inc., FS/TEC 2005 and the Las Vegas Academy of Travel and Tourism. He is a trustee for the Educational Institute of the American Hotel Foundation.