Peter Straube

Peter Straube is a full-time faculty member and Program Director for both Event Management and Hotel/Restaurant Management at Champlain College.  Before he began teaching at Champlain in 1989, he racked up 17 years of experience in the restaurant industry, including 9 years in management positions for everything from quick-casual to fine dining to resort management.  Peter has provided restaurant consulting services for more than a dozen clients and he is a certified food safety instructor for the nationally-recognized ServSafe professional certification program.  During his time at Champlain College, his leadership roles have included President of the Faculty Senate, Chair of the NEASC Institutional Self-Study Committee, member of the College Strategic Planning Committee, member of the College Core Curriculum Steering Committee, Chair of the Curriculum Committee and a member of site inspection teams for our Dubai and Mumbai campuses.

An honors graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Peter also earned a bachelor's degree in Hotel/Hospitality Management from Johnson State and a master's degree in Administration and Management from St. Michael's College, graduating summa cum laude.  His master’s thesis focused on The Dynamics of Guest Loyalty, a subject that is still of particular interest to him.

Peter has continued to stay involved in the business community.  His current roles include: member of the Board of Directors of the Burlington Business Association and chair of the BBA Programs Committee;  Hospitality Skills Council of the Industry Education Center for Excellence (IECE) for the State of Vermont; Tourism Committee of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce (LCRCC); Vermont Convention Bureau (VCB);  Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Vermont Association of Wedding Professionals (VAWP) and the Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Educators (CHRIE).  Peter also operates a small business, Vermont Vacation Concierge, creating unique, personalized itineraries and recommendations for where to stay, where to eat and what to do, for people who are planning a visit to Vermont.

When he has time for other pursuits, Peter especially enjoys playing his guitars; hiking in the Green Mountains, kayaking and windsurfing (when things are green); snowboarding and indoor rock-climbing (when things are white), and playing basketball year-round (where he enjoys playing with students half his age.  Bring it on!)  He claims to be a skillful cook and home-brewer, and especially enjoys experimenting with food & wine flavor combinations. Being an experience-collector, Peter has gone on tiger safari in India, fished for piranha in Brazil, hiked into remote mountain villages in Morocco, ridden the sand dunes of Dubai, prowled the night markets of Hong Kong, snorkeled the shores of several Caribbean islands and visited a number of European countries, as well.

TAGS: Accounting, Business, Event Management, Hotel/ Restaurant Management, International Business, Marketing, Paralegal Studies