Bonnie J. Knutson
The School Of Hospitality Business
Broad College of Business
Michigan State University

Bonnie J. Knutson, Ph.D., is a people watcher.  Widely known as an authority on emerging lifestyle trends, the customer experience, brand positioning, and creative marketing strategies, she works with organizations that want to understand and take advantage of changing consumer demands.   A professor in The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University, her work has been widely featured in both industry and academic publications and has authored M³: Membership Marketing in the Millennium. She is also editor-emeritus of the Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing.

With her wit and entertaining style, Knutson is a frequent speaker at seminars, workshops and industry meetings in both the United States and abroad – including hospitality, financial, automotive, retail, casino and health care industries.  She has been a featured presenter at the National Restaurant Association Show, the New York Hotel Show, Club Managers Association of America International, National Automated Merchandise Association, Air Force Club Managers, and Meeting Professionals International.

Knutson has been named a MSU Distinguished Professor.  She has also been honored with the MSU Distinguished Alumni Award and the Hospitality Business Alumni Association Lifetime Academic Achievement Award.  She was given the esteemed Withrow Award for teaching and research in the Broad College of Business and has won the prestigious Golden Key Teaching Excellence Award for outstanding instruction and dedication to students.  

Dr. Knutson is a past-president of the Advisory Council for the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts and the Michigan State University Alumni Association National Board; she continues to serve both.   She also serves as treasurer on the Board of the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors’ Bureau Foundation and is currently the Faculty Athletic Representative for MSU.   Knutson also twice served as Interim Director of The School of Hospitality Business.

Michael D. Kaplowitz, JD, PhD
Department of Community Sustainability
Michigan State University

Michael Kaplowitz is a professor of environmental law and sustainable development in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). He holds a BS in Industrial Economics from Union College (NY) where he played intercollegiate soccer and a JD from Duke University. After practicing law in New York City, Kaplowitz returned to school and received an MA in Latin American Studies and International Economics from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) and a PhD in Resource Development and Resource Economics from MSU.

Kaplowitz joined the faculty in the Department of Resource Development (RD) in 1997. Subsequently, RD was renamed the Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS). Between 1997 and 2016, Kaplowitz was promoted and tenured as an associate professor, promoted to professor, and served as department chair (2011-2016). Kaplowitz has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and 14 book chapters. His research projects have taken him from North America’s Great Lakes region to Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Malawi, Cambodia, and Nepal. His work has been supported, in part, by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Kaplowitz is married to Dr. Donna Rich Kaplowitz, a faculty member in MSU’s Department of Teacher Education and a faculty associate in MSU’s Office for Incluion & Intercultural Initiatives. They have four children who as of June 2018 will have graduated from East Lansing High School before going on to college. Kaplowitz spent countless hours coaching youth soccer soccer when his children were younger and cheering them on in their various high school sports.

Kaplowitz’s experiences as a faculty member, department chair, lawyer, student-athlete, youth coach, and avid sports fan have prepared him to serve as one of two Michigan State University (MSU) Faculty Athletics Representative (FAR) focused on the assurance of the academic integrity of MSU’s athletics program and the maintenance of the welfare of MSU’s student-athletes.