BU awards three Visiting Professorships

Date: 26 November 2010

Bruce Prideaux, David Alexander and Don Getz

Bournemouth University has awarded three Visiting Professorships within its School of Tourism.

Professors Don Getz, David Alexander and Bruce Prideaux will hold the posts for the next three years.

Dr Keith Wilkes, Dean of the School, said: "The School is excited at the prospect of working with Bruce, David and Don over the next three years on a wide range of research activities. Early success has been achieved with their involvement in the award of the UNWTO project, entitled 'The Integration of Tourism into National Emergency Structures and Processes'."

Don Getz retired in July 2009 from his full-time academic position at the University of Calgary, Canada, where he remains Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor in the Haskayne School of Business. He is a Distinguished Fellow in the International Academy for the Study of Tourism, and has been a leading scholar in the fields of tourism and event studies.

He is currently a Guest Professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and at Stavanger University in Norway. He holds a James Whyte Visiting Fellow position at the School of Tourism, University of Queensland.

As an internationally renowned scholar, Professor Getz's areas of expertise include destination and resort management and marketing, family business and entrepreneurship.

David Alexander is currently Professor of Disaster Management in the Centre for the Study of Risk Conditions and Civil Protection (CESPRO) at the University of Florence.

His previous posts include Professor of Disaster Management at Cranfield University, based at the Royal Military College of Science, where he directed the Cranfield Disaster Management Centre, and Professor and Head of the Disaster Management Subject Group at Coventry University.

Professor Alexander's published journal articles, reports and working papers include studies of seismic landslides, post-earthquake urban planning problems, logistical aspects of emergencies, the sociology of panic and the epidemiology of disasters. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of Geomorphology, Natural Hazards, Disaster Prevention and Management, the Journal of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering and Environmental Management.

Bruce Prideaux is Professor of Marketing and Tourism Management at James Cook University in Queensland, Australia. He is actively involved in a number of research projects including crisis management, marine tourism, rainforest tourism, climate change, tourism transport and ecotourism.

He has authored more than 200 journal articles, book chapters and conference papers in a range of issues related to tourism. Professor Prideaux has also authored or co-authored seven books, serves on the editorial boards of 12 academic journals and has guest edited special issues of journals on themes including cybertouirsm, drive tourism, crisis management, crisis recovery, war and tourism and more recently on climate change.

Professor Prideaux is Editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Transport and Book Review Editor for Australian Journal of Hospitality Management and has contributed to numerous edited texts.