With years of experience now under his belt, Cary C. Countryman is among the two new Grand Valley State University assistant professors in the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department. Countryman has also taught at several other universities across the country including Brigham Young University in Hawaii, University of Houston and Washington State University.

“I was at some of the top programs in hospitality and tourism management and then when I saw Grand Valley, I didn’t know much about them initially but the more that I found out about them and the more I talked with other people, the more impressed I was,” Countryman said. “So I feel like this is a program that will continue to grow and become more and more successful.”

As a part of his experience, Countryman has earned his Ph.D. in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Consumer Behavior from Purdue University, a master’s in Marketing, Hospitality and Tourism Information Systems and a bachelor’s in Political Science from Washington State University, an associate degree in Educational Administration at Everett Community College and he is a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) from the American Hotel and Lodging Association. However, he said his focus in this field is mainly in education.

“I really like the ability to work with students on different projects and research,” he said. “I think that if I had gone back into the industry and working for one company, it’s kind of boring now in that I get to experience new things all the time – new projects, new research, new areas, kind of being out there on the cutting edge in my research so things that people never thought about before, to me that is exciting and it’s never dull or boring.”

When Countryman was growing up, he was able to gain most of his experience through a family-owned bed and breakfast in Washington State, as well as being involved with the Boy Scouts for over 30 years. He also has an extensive background in technology and five published works about hospitality and tourism management.

“He is knowledgeable about a number of different areas,” said Paul Stansbie, department chair of the Hospitality and Tourism Management Department. “He has background teaching from technology classes to marketing and strategic management classes and information analysis. So that was a big plus from our point of view.”

Stansbie also said Countryman is heading up the department’s new research center which will coordinate faculty scholarship outreach and constructing research projects such as technical reports, journals and work on behalf of people in the community.

“So far he is doing very well at Grand Valley,” he said. “He is doing a grand job for us.”

Countryman said he thinks things have been going great so far and hopes he can stay at GVSU for good.

“I hope I can stay as long as possible,” Countryman said. “I hope that the university is happy with me and that I can make this a permanent home.”

[email protected]