Bio
Professor Emeritus Rocco M. Angelo joined Florida International University and the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in 1974 but had been a guest lecturer often in 1972 and 1973. Prior to joining the University, Professor Angelo was the manager of Laventhol and Horwath's (L & H) Management Advisory Services division in New York City. While with L & H he was responsible for supervising and conducting economic feasibility studies, operation and control analyses for hotels, restaurants, and country clubs and tourism studies in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. He managed a private club/hotel, in New York City and worked in various management positions with Aramark and Loews Hotels. He was with Pannell, Kerr, Forster (now CBRE) as a hospitality consultant with the Management Advisory Services Division of the firm.
He received the Bachelor of Science Degree from both Fordham University and the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University and the MBA from the University of Miami. After graduating from Fordham University, he served in the United States Army as a 2nd Lieutenant and commanding officer of an Antiaircraft Gun Battery. He was reassigned to higher headquarters as the commanding officer of a Group Headquarters Battery and promoted to 1st Lieutenant
He was a visiting faculty member at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration from 1968 to 1979. While on leave from FIU in the Fall of 1980, he taught at the International Institute of Glion in Switzerland and later served on the school’s advisory board.
He was advisor to the Club Management Institute of the Club Managers Association of America and served on the American Hotel & Lodging Association's Market Research and Feasibility Committee, the Certification Commission of the Association’s Educational Institute and the Scholarship and Grant Committee of the American Hotel Foundation. He was a member of the Corporation of the Culinary Institute of America, has been a trustee of the Caribbean Hospitality Training Institute and served on the advisory board of Miami-Dade County's Academy of Hospitality and Tourism. He was the Interim President of the Southeast Federation of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education, the worldwide association of hospitality and tourism educators. He received the Lamp of Knowledge Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Hotel & Lodging Association Educational Institute.
In 1993 he was awarded the Statler Professorship and in 1996 he was appointed Interim Vice President of Development at Florida International University while continuing to serve as Hospitality’s associate dean. He was honored in 1997 with Florida International University's Distinguished Service Award. The FIU Alumni Association honored him in 2009 with the Outstanding Faculty Torch Award.
In 2011 the International Council on Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Education (ICHRIE) presented him with the Howard B. Meek award for lifetime achievement. The award was named for Howard B. Meek, PhD, the founding Dean of the Cornell University Hotel School.
The Cornell Hotel School Alumni in 2008 awarded him the alumni “Hotelie” of the Year and in 2022 he was named to the Cornell Hotel Society Hall of Fame. He received the Dade County Academy of Hospitality & Tourism 2013 South Florida Tourism Professional of the Year. The HSMAI South Florida Chapter named him in 2019 the Hospitality Legend of the Year.
Mr. Angelo is the author of "Understanding Feasibility Studies, A Practical Guide" and author of the text book "Hospitality Today: An Introduction”