Souji Gopalakrishna Pillai, Ph.D. profile and information

Short Bio

Dr. Souji G. Pillai’s distinguished academic career reflects a sustained commitment to excellence in hospitality management, culinary arts, research, and academic leadership. He holds a post-doctoral fellowship in Hospitality Management from Florida State University, a PhD in Hospitality Management from Auburn University, and a PhD in Business Management from Bharathiar University, India. With over two decades of combined academic and professional culinary experience, Dr. Pillai has served in diverse leadership and scholarly roles, including Head of Department of Hospitality and Tourism, Deputy Director of Research, curriculum developer, academician, chef, trainer, and administrator. His professional foundation as a trained and competitive chef strengthens his academic work, enabling him to integrate culinary practice with hospitality research and innovation. His academic engagements span the United States, India, and Malaysia, where he has served as a visiting professor, in addition to professional experience across Oman, Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India. Dr. Pillai has co-chaired, organized, and presented at numerous international conferences, with publications in refereed journals. His scholarly work has been presented at Harvard University, Boston, and he has served widely as an invited keynote speaker, panelist, and moderator in countries including the Philippines, Croatia, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and France. His expertise has led to appointments as a PhD external examiner for multiple universities. He has successfully secured competitive research funding from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea, the National Research Foundation of Korea, and Auburn University, USA. His recognitions include: • Trailblazer Award, Nepris USA (2021) • Best Young Scientist Award for Research Excellence & Academics, India (2017) • Outstanding Scientist in Hospitality Management, India (2017) • Chairman Academic Excellence Award, Taylor’s University, Malaysia (2009) • CEO’s Staff Achievement Award, HELP University, Malaysia (2014) In the culinary domain, Dr. Pillai has earned multiple medals in Malaysia-based international culinary competitions endorsed by the World Association of Chefs’ Societies (WACS), including Gold (FHM 2009), Diploma (FHM 2013), and Silver and Bronze (Battle of Chefs 2015). He also served on the organizing committee for Culinary Malaysia (2011 and 2014) and participated in the Master Chef Competition (Malaysia, 2016), demonstrating sustained engagement with internationally recognized professional culinary standards.