My Travel Through Life

Stephen J. Hiemstra (PhD) chronicles his early life, schooling, military service, and civilian service in the federal government. Stephen is a Professor Emeritus at Purdue University and former Senior Research Fellow in the School of Business and Public Policy at George Washington University. He is the founder and Director of the hospitality Ph.D. program in the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Purdue University. He is currently retired and living in Falls Church, Virginia. Stephen has 15 years of experience in teaching and research, and 23 years in administration and research at the USDA. His areas of research focused primarily on: 1. Supply and demand for lodging services, and impacts of room taxes on the lodging industry; 2. Tourism forecasting and impact analysis; 3. Foodservice industry structure and demand analysis; and, 4. School foodservice purchasing, pricing, and management. 5. He published over 200 refereed articles including 75 refereed journal articles. He was the recipient of I-CHRIE Lifetime Research Award (John Wiley & Sons) award and the Editor of National Food Situation for 7 years. His grants and management consulting related to foodservice, lodging, and tourism include: 1. U.S. food assistance program evaluation, management and administration; 2. food marketing economics - e.g. food demand, price analysis, and projections, Management information processing and analysis, State Extension Service Agricultural Economist; and 3. U.S. Air Force where he served as Communication's Officer in Korea. He has an extensive bibliography of published research, and considerable experience in public speaking and TV and radio presentations, is computer literate, and adept at quantitative statistical analysis. Stephen is a graduate with a bachelors and master's degree from Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. He received his doctorate in agricultural economics at University of California at Berkeley in 1960, after service in the U. S. Air Force. He grew up on a grain-livestock farm in near Oskaloosa, Iowa. ISNI: 0000-0000-2990-6376, Personal Memoirs/Historical