Where We Are 
Khan helps Armenian-Greek College in food service partnership
Mount Ararat, Armenia
Hospitality and tourism management professor Mahmood Khan traveled to Armenia in January as a participant in a partnership program between Virginia Tech and the Armenian-Greek College of Tourism, Service, and Food Industry in the capital of Yerevan.
Khan, whose research specialty is in food service management, menu and food product development in the hospitality industry, and restaurant franchising and marketing, was there to assess the program needs of the Armenian college. He also conducted faculty workshops on food safety and worked with faculty and administrators, introducing them to the latest curricula and modern teaching methods and providing suggestions on how such content might be incorporated into existing programs.
"It was a busy two weeks," recalled Khan, who also taught a seminar at the Armenian Tourism Institute for industry representatives. The seminar focused on food safety practices for restaurants, hotels, and other operations where food is prepared and served to the public, he said. "With so many reports of food-borne illnesses worldwide," Khan said, "it is essential for any hospitality business to know and practice food safety methodologies."
Sunflower Valley
The seminar drew 28 participants from an array of hospitality stakeholders, he said, including companies, government agencies, and a consumer rights group.
Khan’s work was part of an aid program in Armenia funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development aimed at improving higher education through curriculum development and promoting long-term relationships between educational institutions in Armenia and the United States.
Khan, who teaches at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center, expects to visit the country again, in April, to conduct business curricula training for the hospitality industry on such topics as sales, customer service, and cost control.
For more information about Khan’s research and teaching programs, please visit www.htm.pamplin.vt.edu/faculty/khan.html