School of Hospitality and Tourism Management collection of Purdue photographs and memorabilia

A top-ranked program in the field, Purdue’s School of Hospitality and Tourism Management has functioned under many names and institutional structures since related classes were first offered in the late nineteenth century. In 1887, the School of Science added a series of courses to the curriculum under the title of Domestic Economy. By 1905, the same school established a stand-alone Department of Household Economics, which among other things included courses on food and home management. In 1916, the Department of Household Economics organized what would be called the Institutional Management Program—the first time that phrase had been included in any degree-offering campus unit. By 1926, these programs split off as a stand-alone school under the title of the School of Home Economics, wherein Institutional Management became a central department. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, various services and classes were added to the School’s primary function (including a “Tea Room” service in 1954, and the addition of merchandising, selling, and lodging courses to the curriculum in 1960). Due to this shift in focus and practice, as well as movements in various related professional fields, the School has been renamed several times since its inception in 1926. First renamed Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management, or RHI (from 1973-1992), then Restaurant, Hotel, Institutional, & Tourism Management, or RHIT (from 1992-2000), and later the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, or HTM (from 2000-2011). It was at this point that the University approved a Ph.D. program in HTM. Finally, in 2011, the Department was renamed the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, as it is known up until the time of this writing.

Sources:

“History,” Hospitality and Tourism Management, College of Health and Human Sciences, http://www.purdue.edu/hhs/htm/about/history.html. Accessed 16 Aug. 2017.