Women In Business - Dr. Melissa Baker
Hospitality, Leadership & the Art of the Experience: A Conversation with Dr. Melissa Baker
The Lexington Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to continue our Women in Business Series with an inspiring conversation featuring one of the most recognized voices in hospitality education and leadership in the country.
Dr. Baker earned her B.S. from Cornell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. Before pursuing academia, she built real-world experience managing operations for the Brio Bravo Restaurant Group. She joined the UMass Amherst faculty in 2013 and has risen through the ranks to become a full Professor and Department Chair, a role she has held since 2023.
Dr. Baker is a two-time award-winning educator, having received the ICHRIE Teaching Excellence Award in 2023 and the UMass Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021 - the first professor in HTM to ever receive the latter, and the first female faculty member in the Isenberg business school to do so.
Her scholarship is equally impressive. Dr. Baker's research focuses on service failure and recovery, appearance and impression formation, and customer experience management, with work published in top journals such as the Journal of Business Research and Psychology & Marketing. Her recent research has challenged conventional wisdom in the industry, including groundbreaking work on how uncivil customers and company policies that embolden them damage employees' mental health and undercut their capacity to serve, making a compelling case for why businesses must have their employees' backs.
Under her leadership, the Isenberg HTM program has been ranked 10th in the U.S. and 20th globally out of 1,000 research universities. Dr. Baker is passionate about expanding what hospitality means, arguing that the field is the largest industry in the world, employing over 10% of the global workforce and accounting for over 10% of global GDP, far beyond hotels and restaurants.
Join us for a conversation about leading with purpose, building cultures where people thrive, and what the world of hospitality and tourism teaches us about leadership in every industry. Whether you manage a team of two or two hundred, Dr. Baker's insights on service, leadership, and the human side of business will resonate deeply.
Event Details:
📅 Thursday, May 29
⏰ 9:00 – 10:00 AM
📍 Galaray House 1725 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA
The Lexington Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to continue our Women in Business Series with an inspiring conversation featuring one of the most recognized voices in hospitality education and leadership in the country.
Dr. Baker earned her B.S. from Cornell University and her M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. Before pursuing academia, she built real-world experience managing operations for the Brio Bravo Restaurant Group. She joined the UMass Amherst faculty in 2013 and has risen through the ranks to become a full Professor and Department Chair, a role she has held since 2023.
Dr. Baker is a two-time award-winning educator, having received the ICHRIE Teaching Excellence Award in 2023 and the UMass Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021 - the first professor in HTM to ever receive the latter, and the first female faculty member in the Isenberg business school to do so.
Her scholarship is equally impressive. Dr. Baker's research focuses on service failure and recovery, appearance and impression formation, and customer experience management, with work published in top journals such as the Journal of Business Research and Psychology & Marketing. Her recent research has challenged conventional wisdom in the industry, including groundbreaking work on how uncivil customers and company policies that embolden them damage employees' mental health and undercut their capacity to serve, making a compelling case for why businesses must have their employees' backs.
Under her leadership, the Isenberg HTM program has been ranked 10th in the U.S. and 20th globally out of 1,000 research universities. Dr. Baker is passionate about expanding what hospitality means, arguing that the field is the largest industry in the world, employing over 10% of the global workforce and accounting for over 10% of global GDP, far beyond hotels and restaurants.
Join us for a conversation about leading with purpose, building cultures where people thrive, and what the world of hospitality and tourism teaches us about leadership in every industry. Whether you manage a team of two or two hundred, Dr. Baker's insights on service, leadership, and the human side of business will resonate deeply.
Event Details:
📅 Thursday, May 29
⏰ 9:00 – 10:00 AM
📍 Galaray House 1725 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington, MA
Date and Time
Wednesday May 27, 2026
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM EDT
Location
Galaray House
1725 Massachusetts Avenue
Lexington, MA 02420
Fees/Admission
FREE for members
$10 for non-members
Contact Information
Olivia Kelley
Send Email
Printed courtesy of www.lexingtonchamber.org/ – Contact the Lexington Chamber of Commerce for more information.
1620 Massachusetts Avenue , Lexington, MA 02420 – (781) 862-2480 – director@lexingtonchamber.org