She received a B.S. degree in Tourism Marketing from Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, China, and an M.S. degree and Ph.D. degree in Consumer Sciences Specialization in Hospitality Management from the Ohio State University, Ohio, USA. She worked in the hotel and food catering industry as part of the Marriot and Sodexo teams. She is a recipient of Best Paper Awards from the Journal of Service Management (2014, 2015) and Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management (2016). She is also a recipient of Young Researcher Awards (2014) sponsored by Cornell School of Hotel Administration. She has received several Best Paper Awards from international business and hospitality conferences.