In Memoriam
ROBERT W. McINTOSH
September 4, 1917 — March 17, 2013

Dr. Robert W. McIntosh, Michigan State University, economist, extension specialist, author, professor, consultant, and world-renowned authority on tourism died March 17, 2013, at the Hawaii Kai Retirement Community. Bob was 96. He is survived by son John and daughter Jean.

Dr. McIntosh received his bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics at Michigan State University (MSU) in 1940 and then served in the Air Force in World War II as an intelligence officer. After his Air Force stint he went back to MSU where he received a master’s degree in conservation and resource development. Upon graduation he worked for MSU Extension Service. He recognized an academic career required a PhD so he attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and received his PhD degree in conservation from the School of Natural Resources in 1956.

Many Michigan tourism firms have taken advantage of the professional help of Dr. McIntosh and others from MSU’s Tourist and Resort Extension Service and the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM) in learning how to run a profit-making business for vacationers and outdoor enthusiasts.

In 1957 Bob was tasked by the HRIM department chair to set up a blueprint for a travel and tourism curriculum for the HRIM School. By 1959 he was teaching two courses in the new curriculum. Five year later he moved to half-time teaching as the program blossomed and Bob became the first Professor of International Tourism and Travel in the United States.

Proof of his great dedication and drive in promoting a tourism management degree program was the new four-year bachelor’s degree program in tourism that the HRIM School began offering in the fall of 1969.

On sabbatical leave from MSU, Bob helped found the School of Travel Industry Management at the University of Hawaii (UH) in the 1960s. Prior to his work there, UH had no educational program for those desiring to work in the field of tourism in Hawaii. With the advent of jet air service to Hawaii, visitors were arriving in large numbers, and Bob helped Hawaii prepare for what became its premier industry—travel and tourism.

Bob recognized the need for an introductory college textbook in tourism and started putting an outline together in 1967. This was one of his masterworks, and in 1972 Gird, Inc. published the first edition of the textbook Tourism: Principles, Practices, Philosophies. Later the book was acquired by Wiley and is still in use worldwide, now in its 12th edition. Bob was a prolific author with 35 books, 9 book chapters, 65 journal articles, 38 bulletins for MSU Cooperative Extension Service, and 4 special reports to his credit.

Dr. McIntosh received many honors throughout his career. He was the 1962 recipient of the MSU Hotel Student Association Faculty Award, and was presented distinguished service awards by the American Hotel and Motel Association: the Motel Association of America; the Michigan Tourism Association; the U.S. Travel Service, Department of Commerce; the American Society of Travel Agents; the Institute of Certified Travel Agents; the Society of Travel and Tourism Educators; and the Manistee County Board of Commissioners.

Bob traveled to all 50 states and more than 100 countries around the world. In 1964, he represented the United States at a United Nations sponsored conference held in Rome. He was an avid reader of anything related to travel, nature, or the cosmos. Bob envisioned the day when tourism would reach beyond the Earth itself—something he actually lived long enough to see the beginning of. For about $25 million, one could get a round trip to the International Space Station. Dr. Robert McIntosh was indeed a man ahead of his time—a true prophet of travel into the future.

Charles Goeldner (University of Colorado)