Biography - Simon N Vaz

Simon holds an Education Specialist Degree in Instructional leadership (Brain Research) from Nova Southeastern University, Master of Business Administration Degree in Management from Southern Adventist University and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Hospitality Management from St. Thomas University. He has an extensive background in the hospitality industry.

Simon started his career as a Front Office Clerk/Night Auditor in a large hotel in Miami, quickly moving up to Supervisor and Manager of Front Office. He then switched to the Food and Beverage side of the business. He managed a pizza restaurant before going into financial services and information technology. His first foray into academia was as a twelve grade/sixth form teacher of economics, marketing and business math at Belair High School in Mandeville, Jamaica.

He then moved to NYC and worked in financial services for six years, after that he returned to Jamaica for three years. This is where he started his academic career in hospitality management at the college/university level. He spent one year teaching community college before moving on to Northern Caribbean University where he developed their associate degree program in hospitality management and taught all of the core classes including culinary and baking classes. On his return to NYC he started his 12 year career with The Art Institutes; currently he is an instructor of culinary management at The Art Institute of Tampa. Simon is a member of the ACF, CHE and LCGI. He has three daughters. Hobbies: Church History, Bible Prophecy, fishing, traveling and PaKua Martial Arts. He holds a 3rd Degree Black Belt and has been training for over eight years.