Frank Chen

Biography

Frank Chen is a hospitality executive and educator whose work bridges hotel operations, organizational leadership, and experiential hospitality education. He serves as General Manager of Hilton Oak Brook Hills Resort & Conference Center, managed by Somnium Hospitality Group, and as a Lecturer in Hospitality Management at The Ohio State University.

Chen began his hospitality career while attending Ohio State, working as a dishwasher and cook with University Dining Services. He went on to advance through multiple disciplines of hotel operations before becoming one of Hilton's youngest full-service general managers in the Americas. His career includes leadership experience with Hilton, Marriott, and IHG-affiliated hotels, as well as hospitality consulting and entrepreneurial ventures. He was recognized by Hotel Management magazine as a 2023 GM to Watch.

As an educator, Chen brings a practitioner perspective into the classroom, connecting hospitality theory with contemporary challenges facing hotel owners, operators, and leaders. His teaching and professional interests include hotel operations, financial and revenue management, guest experience, organizational leadership, hotel development, entrepreneurship, and career development.

Chen's relationship with Ohio State Hospitality Management began as a student and has continued throughout his career. A former officer of the Hospitality Management Association, he later returned as a guest lecturer, industry partner, mentor, and member of the Hospitality Management Advisory Board before joining the faculty as a lecturer.

Over the years, he has coached and mentored hundreds of students, helping them navigate career decisions, build professional networks, and develop as future hospitality leaders. His approach to education reflects his belief that hospitality is both a rigorous business discipline and a deeply human profession. He emphasizes experiential learning, mentorship, industry engagement, and helping students recognize how hospitality skills can translate into leadership, consulting, development, entrepreneurship, technology, and other emerging opportunities.