Spotlight On: Jane Bokunewicz
From left to right, Diana Strelczyk, assistant director of Office of Continuing Studies & Adult Education; Sarah Grady, assistant director of The Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT); award recipient Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of LIGHT; Donna Albano, professor of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Studies; Tara Marsh, HTMS Internship Coordinator; Noel Criscione-Naylor, associate Professor of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Studies; and Jennifer Aarons, LIGHT Faculty Fellow AY '23; teaching specialist of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Management Studies.
Atlantic City, N.J. – Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of The Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism (LIGHT), won the CRDA Spirit of Hospitality Award and was formally recognized at the 24th annual Atlantic City Host & Spirit of Hospitality Awards on May 10. This award is given to an outstanding individual who has made a long-lasting contribution to the Atlantic City tourism & hospitality industry.
Bokunewicz, who also received the 2022 NJBIZ Education Power 50 Award last November, said she was honored by this recent recognition.
"The Host Awards are very special to me because I have served for almost ten years on the committee that reviews all of the nominations each year. I have had the privilege of reading hundreds of stories of amazing acts of service, by employees, to the guests of Atlantic City," Bokunewicz said during her acceptance speech.
She shared several impactful stories about hospitality employees' actions in Atlantic City that reflected kindness, compassion, and even heroism.
An example was about a server with a regular guest who developed Alzheimer's disease and could no longer remember their favorite dish, but the server did and ensured the guest always had it.
"When I read these stories and so many more like them, I feel inspired and proud to be a part of the hospitality industry. People caring for and serving others. Actually having an impact on making other people's lives better. And not expecting anything in return," she commented.
As a vice president at Tropicana, I tried to make the lives of employees better through my role in Human Resources. Now as a professor of hospitality at Stockton University, my greatest joy is seeing our students enter the industry and thrive as hospitality professionals. In my role at LIGHT, I try to serve the industry through research and community outreach.
Throughout her professional career, Bokunewicz has always tried to have an impact like the stories she shared.
"As a vice president at Tropicana, I tried to make the lives of employees better through my role in Human Resources. Now as a professor of hospitality at Stockton University, my greatest joy is seeing our students enter the industry and thrive as hospitality professionals. In my role at LIGHT, I try to serve the industry through research and community outreach," she reflected.
Reported by Mandee McCullough
Photos submitted
