Panda Professionals Hospitality Education and Training


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Panda Professionals: A seasoned and passionate group of writers and data scientists committed to delivering projects on time, within budget, and with excellence and grace.

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David K. Hayes, PH. D.



Author, Educator





David K. Hayes, Ph.D. has over 40 years of experience in the field of hospitality management and education. Dr. Hayes developed the hospitality management program at Texas Tech University. He has held faculty position at Purdue University and Texas Tech University, served as Associate Dean of the University of Houston’s Conrad Hilton College of Hotel Administration, and held the position of Vice President of the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AH&LA).


An accomplished business professional as well as educator, Dr. Hayes’ hospitality industry experience is varied and includes six years as the Managing Owner of a full-service hotel and conference center in Lansing, Michigan. In 2005, Dr. Hayes formed Panda Professionals Hospitality Management and Training, a training resources company that develops customized hospitality education-related materials.


Dr. Hayes is a prolific author, having published over a dozen textbooks, including versions that have been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Croatian and Spanish. His current publication list includes:


Hotel Operations Management (3rd. edition) Pearson (2016)

Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry (2nd. edition)John Wiley (2016)

Food and Beverage Cost Control (6th. edition) John Wiley (2015)

Human Resources in Hospitality (2nd. edition) John Wiley (2015)

The Professional Restaurant Manager Pearson (2013)

Foundations of Lodging Management (2nd. edition) Pearson (2011)

The Professional Kitchen Manager Pearson (2011)

Revenue Management for the Hospitality Industry John Wiley (2010)

Procurement for the Hospitality Industry Pearson (2009)

Purchasing for the Hospitality Industry Pearson (2009)

Menu Planning and Design (2nd. edition) McCutchan (2008)

Hospitality Law (3rd. edition) John Wiley (2008)

Front Office Management Simulation Pearson (2007)

Professional Front Office Management Pearson (2006)

Training Managers to Train (2nd. edition.) Thompson Learning (2005)

Restaurant Operations Management Pearson (2005)

Restaurant Basics: Financial Management John Wiley (2002)


In addition to his Ph.D., Dr. Hayes has held the hospitality industry certification of Food Management Professional (FMP) from the National Restaurant Association (NRA) where he served as author/ consultant on the ManageFirst program. He also has held the Certified Food and Beverage Executive (CFBE) and Certified Hospitality Administrator (CHA) designations from the American Hotel & Lodging Association.


Dr. Hayes is an accomplished researcher with multiple refereed publications in the prestigious “The Cornell Quarterly”. In addition, his work as a hospitality training video producer includes the development of a “dialog free” video training series for use across all language and cultural barriers and utilized by hospitality firms and educational institutions worldwide.


Dr. Hayes received his Bachelor of Science (BS), and Masters of Science (MS), degrees in Hospitality Management and his Ph.D. degree in Educational Administration from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.


Dr. David K. Hayes now divides his professional time between Panda Professionals Hospitality Management and Training (Panda Pros) offices in Okemos, Michigan and Gulfport, Mississippi.



Allisha A. Miller



Author, Content Developer





Allisha A. Miller is a dynamic hospitality industry professional specializing in the development of educational and training materials targeting the “tech-savvy” student.


As an experienced lodging industry specialist, Ms. Miller brings a fresh perspective for today’s world. She is a long-standing partner in Panda Professionals Hospitality Management and Training (Panda Pros).


Since joining Panda Pros, Ms. Miller's educational project management experience includes serving as co-leader in the development of the highly successful Front Office Management Simulation software produced Pearson International (formerly Prentice Hall). She has since co-authored the following hospitality texts:


Hotel Operations Management (3rd. edition) Pearson (2016)

The Professional Restaurant Manager Pearson (2013)

Foundations of Lodging Management (2nd. edition) Pearson (2011)

The Professional Kitchen Manager Pearson (2011)

Revenue Management for the Hospitality Industry John Wiley (2010)

Front Office Management Simulation Pearson (2007)


In addition to her co-authorships, she was responsible for designing and developing all instructor materials for the following popular hospitality texts:


Managerial Accounting for the Hospitality Industry (2nd. edition) John Wiley (2016)

Food and Beverage Cost Control (6th. edition) John Wiley (2015)

Human Resources in Hospitality (2nd. edition) John Wiley (2015)


Ms. Miller’s recent professional experience includes serving as a culinary/ hospitality management publications content consultant for:


John Wiley & Sons

Pearson International

National Environmental Health Association (NEHA)

National Restaurant Association (NRA)


Ms. Miller resides with her loving and supportive family in St. Johns, Michigan.



Josh D. Hayes, PH. D.



Author, Data Scientist





As an author, Josh has served as co-writer of the teacher support materials for the popular text Revenue Management for the Hospitality Industry, published by John Wiley. Additional project work for John Wiley includes significant contributions on writing the learning assessment tools that accompany the culinary texts Professional Cooking, 9th edition and Professional Baking, 7th edition.

Dr. Hayes work for Pearson-published projects include overall narrative and computational assessment review for Culinary Math and Hotel Operations Management, 3rd edition. His work with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) include contributions to the ManageFirst series the training program that leads to ManageFirst Professional® (MFP) credential. The MFP credential recognizes students as having the academic and practical knowledge they need to succeed in the restaurant, foodservice, and hospitality industries. His specific assignments included Hospitality and Restaurant Marketing, Hospitality Accounting, and Bar and Beverage Management. His hospitality industry-related work has been published nationally and internationally at hospitality.net and hotel-online.com.

As an educator, he has nearly a decade of experience in university-level classroom instruction serving as lead instructor of classes ranging in size from 10- to 150+ students. His lectures and presentations include teaching sessions at the University of California, Davis, and research presentations at Berkeley, Washington D.C., Montreal, and Oxford University.

Dr. Hayes is a specialist in designing and drafting learning assessment measures that focus on the accurate measurement of student learning outcomes to optimize initial comprehension and enhance long-term retention. As a research method scientist, he has managed projects that have exceeded the expectations of the highest levels of intellectual rigor. Managed project results, including his own innovative research findings, have been presented at the California Senate, the American Sociological Association, the California Sociological Association, the Oxford Religious Studies Symposium, and the University of California Berkeley.

Dr. Hayes has extensive knowledge of quantitative methodology, statistical analysis, data management and study design. Combined with his teaching experience, his knowledge of research methods empowers him to assess and measure validity, test reliability, teaching outcomes, training objectives, and student retention as well as to ensure training programs meet their targeted objectives.

Dr. Hayes earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. He earned his Master’s (MA) degree from Stanford University and his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Michigan State University.


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