Dr. Michael Cheng is the Dean at the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management at Florida International University, where he is transforming hospitality, starting with the learner experience. He was previously a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Food and Beverage Program.  Dr. Cheng has subject matter expertise in competency-based learning, hospitality management, Culinology®, food product development, restaurant development, sensory analysis, and food and beverage management. Prior to joining Florida International University, Dr. Cheng served as founding Director and Department Chair, Director of Global Studies and MBA Programs, and Professor of Culinology® at Southwest Minnesota State University.

Dr. Cheng received both his B.S. and M.S. in Restaurant/Foodservice Management from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and his Ph.D. in Hospitality Management from Iowa State University. He brings over 20 years of experience in teaching and learning in Culinology® and Hospitality Management, and established the world’s first and only academic discipline that blends culinary arts and food science—Culinology®. The Vilcek Foundation recognized his achievements by placing Dr. Cheng as a finalist in the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in the Culinary Arts in 2010. He has been honored three times by the Research Chefs Association (RCA) with the President’s Award for his continued innovation, dedication, leadership and extraordinary contributions to the RCA community. Since the inception of the first Culinology® degree program at Nebraska, Dr. Cheng has been involved with establishing other Culinology® programs, including University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Southwest Minnesota State University and Taylor’s University, Malaysia. Dr. Cheng has presented at the National Restaurant Association on Culinology®, as well as at various national and international conferences, such as the Molecular Gastronomy Workshop at University College Cork, Ireland, the Research Chefs Association Culinology Expo, the League for Innovation, and the World Summit for Deans of Independent Schools of Hospitality & Tourism. In 2022, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln recognized Dr. Cheng for his success and leadership with an Alumni Masters award. 

At FIU, he has led and set new benchmarks for partnerships and fundraising, leading towards the establishment of the first Endowed Professor of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in any hospitality program and the creation of the world’s only Bacardi Center of Excellence. Dr. Cheng is also the Editor-in-chief of the Journal of Culinary Science and Technology as well as a published author of several peer-reviewed articles on Culinology® competencies and has been awarded over $1.25 million in public and privately funded research. He is currently the co-author of the top-selling textbook, Hospitality Today: An Introduction. Dr. Cheng is a native of Malaysia.