Gosser Named Endowed Chair of Yum! Center for Global Franchise Excellence

The YUM! Center for Global Franchise Excellence (CGFE) at the UofL College of Business has named Kathleen Gosser, PhD, as its inaugural Endowed Chair.

Dr. Gosser originally joined the College of Business in 2019. Before joining UofL, Dr. Gosser spent 35 years at YUM! Brands. Her last role with the company was as Director of Learning & Organizational Development and the Chair of the KFC Foundation. She earned her PhD in Educational Leadership and Organizational Development from the University of Louisville, her MBA from UofL, and her BA in Journalism from Indiana University.

Dr. Gosser leveraged her experience in learning and franchising to lead the Franchise Management Certificate program, an online, asynchronous program focused on all the critical elements of franchising. She co-created this unique model combining the sophistication of corporate eLearning with academic principles and modalities. UofL recently recognized her efforts in the classroom as a 2021 TILL Teaching Innovation Award winner.

“Kathy is a terrific educator and a wonderful person,” said Dean Todd Mooradian. “There is no one who knows more about franchising—from the strategic level down to the nuts and bolts of communicating with your franchisees than Kathy Gosser. What good fortune to have her join with us in developing our Center.”