[Excerpt] The four key values that currently define the Hotel School's research and teaching are rigor, relevance, relationships, and reach. The 2003 Human Resources (HR) Roundtable, which brought together some of the most forward-thinking HR executives and consultants in the industry, provided a remarkable opportunity to reinforce each of these values. The primary objective of this industry-focused roundtable was to create a forum for sharing information about important HR topics to generate ideas for improving HR practice, education, and research. Our discussions and debates examined some of the most vexing HR problems in the hospitality industry and generated several important insights concerning the future of HR--two of which are addressed in the articles that appear in this special section. This forum also provided an excellent means for forging connections between industry and academe. Practitioners were exposed to some of the recent research advances in the HR discipline, and the academics learned how some of the top hospitality firms were coping with critical HR decisions and problems.