Miranda Kitterlin-Lynch, Ph.D., is an assistant professor, Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University, where she teaches graduate level hospitality management courses. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

She holds a master’s degree in human resources and a bachelor’s degree in hotel, restaurant and tourism management from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.

Prior to beginning a career in academe, Kitterlin worked for 11 years in the lodging and food and beverage industries in Louisiana, Michigan, and Las Vegas. What began on a whim as an entry-level front-ofhouse position quickly developed into operational management, sales, and human resources management roles, and a lifelong passion for hospitality management.

During her industry career, Kitterlin encountered a number of employee issues that led her to seek answers in academic research. Her first educational venture was as an instructor as St. Landry Accelerated Transition School, where she designed a hospitality and tourism curriculum and skills certification program for the vocational educational program.

During her university level academic career, Kitterlin has taught both traditional and online hospitality management classes at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, James Madison University, in addition to her appointment at Florida International University, where she teaches master’s degree classes in hospitality industry organizational behavior, and case studies in hospitality management.

Kitterlin’s research focuses primarily on food and beverage, human resources, and organizational behavior issues. She has published on topics of foodservice industry employee selection and screening, employee behavior and perceptions, training needs of hospitality employees, food-safety education, and hospitality student learning styles.

Much of her work centers on employee substance abuse and employment drug-testing in the hospitality industry.