Jane Bokunewicz, faculty director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming Hospitality and Tourism at Stockton University and a longtime casino executive, will be honored with the Spirit of Hospitality Award at the 24th Annual Atlantic City Host and Spirit of Hospitality Awards, it was announced Wednesday.
The event, hosted by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, rewards the front-line and back-of-the-house workers for exemplary service to visitors and recognizes how they are important to the economy and the backbone of the hospitality industry.
This year’s event will be held at 5:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in the Adrian Phillips Theater.
The Spirit of Hospitality Award is given to an outstanding individual who has made a long-lasting contribution to the Atlantic City tourism & hospitality industry.
Bokunewicz, who worked 22 years in the Atlantic City casino industry, with 12 years as vice president of administration at Tropicana, is being honored for her work at LIGHT.
Did you know?
Jane Bokunewicz not only holds a Ph.D. in communication, culture and media from Drexel University, she is a third-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do Karate.
In 2022, in collaboration with the New Jersey Tourism Industry Association and Stockton Continuing Studies, LIGHT developed and implemented a Certified Tourism Industry Professional certificate program, through which working professionals can earn an industry-valued credential, fully online, asynchronously, at their own pace.
Bokunewicz has earned a reputation as a credible source of gaming, hospitality and tourism research and analysis and participates frequently in press, TV and radio interviews commenting on important industry events.
Bokunewicz has been a hospitality and casino management educator at the bachelor’s and master’s level since 2006, first at Drexel in Philadelphia and currently at Stockton University.
She teaches casino management, hotel management, human resources, business policy and strategy and social network analysis. She has said educating the next generation of hospitality leaders is her passion.
