Co r n el l

U n i v er s i t y
Founded in 1865, Cornell is an Ivy League
research university comprising seven under-
graduate colleges and seven graduate and
professional schools. With total enrollment
of more than 20,000 students from all over
the world, and top-rated programs in archi-
tecture, business, engineering, hotel admin-
istration, human and veterinary medicine,
human development, the humanities, labor
and employment issues, law, and life scienc-
es, the university embodies Ezra Cornell’s
vision of “an institution where any person
can find instruction in any study.”
The university’s commitment to high-
quality education is reflected in the number
and variety of resources available to its stu-
dents, faculty, and staff. These include one
of the largest academic research libraries
in the United States; a First-Year program
designed to help new students successfully
negotiate the transition from high school
to college; the Transfer Student Program,
which supports students who come to
Cornell after studying elsewhere; and more
than 800 student organizations dedicated
to interests ranging from politics to pro-
fessions, religion to recreation. Cornell’s
faculty, numbering more than 2,600 world-
wide, includes Nobel laureates, Pulitzer
prize winners, and presidents of the leading
professional organizations in their fields.
There is a vibrant cultural life on campus,
with seasonal offerings of theater, music,
film, art exhibits, and dance. As New York
State’s land-grant institution—and the only
Ivy League university with land-grant sta-
tus—Cornell seeks to instill an interest in
public service and community involvement
in its students, encouraging them to use
their skills and knowledge to benefit others.
The university experience also is enriched
by the diversity of its student body. More
than a quarter of undergraduates are
African American, Asian American, Latino,
and Native American, or from multiracial
backgrounds. International students from
120 countries make up an additional 8 per-
cent of the student body.
Cornell’s main campus is frequently
described as one of the most beautiful in
the United States. Spread over 745 acres of
gardens, fields, and woods crisscrossed by
gorges, waterfalls, and creeks, it includes
more than 260 buildings ranging in age
from mid-Victorian to early twenty-first
century and offers spectacular views of
Cayuga Lake and the surrounding
countryside.
 5 Welcome

6 The Finest Education in Hospitality

Management

8 Hospitality: The World’s Largest

Industry

10 Worldwide Hospitality

12 A Hotelie and a Cornellian

14 Hospitality Leadership through Learning

16 A Management Curriculum

20 Understanding People Is Key

22 Student Life

24 Hotel Ezra Cornell

26 After You Graduate

28 The Faculty

30 Industry Connections

32 Hands-On Learning

34 About Ithaca

35 Admissions

38 Is the Hotel School for You?

Admissions Office
School of Hotel Administration
Cornell University
180 Statler Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-6902
607.255.6376
E-mail: hotelschool_admissions@cornell.edu

w w w. h ot e l s ch o o l .co r n e l l . e d u
4
W elco m e
The Cornell School of Hotel Administra-
tion was founded in 1922 as the nation’s
first collegiate course of study in hospital-
ity management. A gift from the Statler
Foundation in 1948 enabled the con-
struction of a building dedicated to the
program, and in 1950 Hotel Administration became a
school of its own. The Statler Inn, with fifty-two guest rooms and
two restaurants, opened in 1950 as the world’s first teaching hotel.
In 1989, Cornell unveiled the $45 million, nine-story Statler Hotel
and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center.
Today, the Hotel School is recognized as the world leader in hospi-
tality management. The school provides management-level instruc-
tion in the full range of hospitality disciplines, educating the next
generation of leaders in the world’s largest industry.

5
 The Finest Education in
Hospitality Management
You will find no better preparation for a career in hospitality management
anywhere in the world. Schools that offer programs similar to ours invariably modeled
their curricula after ours, and many of their professors are graduates of our Ph.D. program.
Throughout the industry, we are known by our nickname—the Hotel School—rather than as
Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration. In the hospitality industry, everyone knows which
hotel school they mean—Cornell is in a class by itself.
We have almost 900 undergraduate and graduate students; some sixty full-time faculty
members (whose priorities are teaching, advising students, conducting research, and consulting);
a 153-room teaching hotel; the largest and most comprehensive hospitality library in the world;
the world’s number-one executive-education program, serving thousands of hospitality leaders
annually; and a network of 11,000 alumni working in every aspect of hospitality.
But what makes the Hotel School superlative isn’t anything that can be measured in numbers
or by external standards. In hospitality education, we are the bearer of the standard.

What is the Hotel School?

A Business School for the Hospitality Industry
Behind every smiling reservation clerk lies an intricate world of management-planning, finance,
operations, information technology, marketing, branding, and more. We’re a professional school,
one that gives you the tools of business administration and teaches you how to apply them in the
hospitality industry. Every Hotel School student takes the same core courses, covering such sub-
jects as accounting, finance, marketing, information technology, and human resources. And be-
cause hospitality is all about people—it’s a labor-intensive field and the ability to serve customers
and clients pleasantly and consistently counts for a lot—labor relations, customer relations, and
human relations generally are an important part of your education.

6
Laura Kornegay ’96
Vice president, Leadership Development
ClubCorp
Dallas, Texas

“In Dallas they’re proud of Texas A & M and the

University of Texas, and there are people who
have never heard of Cornell; but in the indus-
try, they all know Cornell.”

“The hotel business is a very small world; and where you

went to school makes all the difference,” says Laura Kornegay,
vice president, Leadership Development for ClubCorp, which
owns and manages more golf clubs, country clubs, and
business and sports clubs than any other company in the
country.
“In Dallas they’re proud of Texas A & M and the University
of Texas, and there are people who have never heard of
Cornell; but in the industry, they all know Cornell.”
Kornegay recruits at four national campuses, including
Cornell, and she and her friends who recruit for Marriott,
Starwood, and ARAMARK look forward to seeing one another
on campuses and at conferences.
“Someone once said to me, ‘You talk to each other?!?’ And I
said, ‘Of course! We compete for the same recruits, but it’s a
friendly competition.’
“You don’t think about this a lot, but Cornell offers you an
amazing network of people. Honestly, I can pick up the phone
and call any Hotel School alum and say, ‘Hi, this is why I’m
calling, this is what I need, can you help?’ Our common
experience makes that possible.”
Kornegay’s relationship with ClubCorp began, indirectly,
at Cornell. After completing a sales internship at Bristol Hotels
and Resorts in Dallas, where Peter Kline ’69 was chief
executive, she went to work for Bristol after graduating.
When Kline sold Bristol to Intercontinental Hotels, Kornegay
decided to stay in Dallas rather than move to Atlanta, and
called on Cornell contacts, including members of the National
Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH), for help in finding
a new position.
Through a NSMH contact at TGIFridays, she landed a job in
Dallas. Then, when John Beckert ’75, former chief operating
officer at Bristol, joined ClubCorp, along with his brother
Richard ’78 and John Longstreet ’77, who had been
Kornegay’s former boss in human resources at Bristol,
Kornegay went with them to ClubCorp.
“I loved working at Bristol because of the company’s values;
and it’s exciting to be back where it all began—with hotelies,”
she said. “I understand the way these guys operate. . . . They
came out of the Hotel School twenty years before I did, but
we still speak the same language and can talk about the same
activities.”

7
 Hospitality:
The World’s Largest Industry

Hospitality is big business—$4 trillion a year and growing fast.

When you add up all the hotels, motels, and resorts in the world, plus airlines, B&Bs, cafete-
rias, car rentals, catering, concessions, eco-tourism, fine-dining restaurants, multi-unit restau-
rants, ski resorts and health spas, vacation clubs, and more, hospitality turns out to be a bigger
business than most people realize. It’s also airline management, amusement parks, ballparks, casi-
nos and gaming operations, city clubs, cruise lines, country clubs, dance halls, e-commerce, golf
clubs, theme parks, tourism, and yacht clubs.

Business at this scale is a high-stakes game of risks and rewards. Creativity counts, and so does
the discipline necessary to achieve results. Every dream is eventually measured against a profit-
and-loss statement. You’ll need to be sharp, imaginative, and realistic, all at the same time.
If you are, you will be given more responsibility at an earlier age than you might have imag-
ined. Chances are, you will advance rapidly. Or, if you prefer, start your own company. Quite a
few Hotel School graduates have founded companies, including Alamo Rent-A-Car; Burger King;
Dunkin Donuts; Duty Free Shoppers stores at international airports; Hotel Valuation Services;
PriceWaterhouseCoopers Global Hospitality Consulting; and more.
The worldwide hospitality industry is riding a strong wave of economic growth. In Asia and
Latin America, American companies are making inroads, and national governments and private
developers are building establishments at a great rate. Opportunities abound for Hotel School
graduates, especially those who know foreign languages and cultures.
And when new career opportunities arise, as a Hotel School grad you’ll be able to change fields
within hospitality or move to a related industry such as business consulting, design, finance, in-
vestment, or real-estate development. Our curriculum gives you a solid foundation for all aspects
of hospitality and related service industries.

The Name “Hotel School” Only Begins To Describe Us

The Hotel School was founded in 1922 when a group of hoteliers approached Cornell administra-
tors about starting a program in hotel management. That was before the first international hotels,
and it was before commercial airlines began whisking hundreds of thousands of passengers
around the globe every day. The industry has grown and changed, and so has the school.
If you wanted to “reposition” the school (the kind of exercise you’re likely to study in your first
marketing class), you might think of changing our name from School of Hotel Administration to
School of Hospitality Management. That’s a better description of what we do. But a name as good
as ours (you will also learn) is not something to mess with. The Hotel School is recognized as the
world’s number-one management school for the global hospitality industry, even if we do have a
modest name.

8
 Greg Sheets ’93
Vice President,
Hotel Operations
Pechanga Resort and Casino

Rebecca Ratner ’97

Director, Human Resources
Mark Birtha ’94
Wynn Resort Las Vegas
Vice President, Development
Marriott International

Michael Zanolli ’93

Manager, Butler Services
The Venetian Resort–Hotel–Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada

“This is a go-to department. We make things happen,” said

Celebrities may get butler services at the Venetian Zanolli, who has been doing this for eight years. Four years ago,
Resort–Hotel–Casino—like Andrew Lloyd Weber on the opening he had a staff of twenty-three; now he has double that.
night of Phantom of the Opera in Vegas or a famous chef opening
a new restaurant—but the people who get it all the time are the
big-time gamers and top-end casino players, the highest of the
high rollers.
“There’s a perception of Las Vegas as a place you fly into, get
Mike Zanolli and his staff of fifty look after their every desire.
into the party mode, and do the strip. For most people, it’s a party
These guests, who stay on the top three floors, where every
city. For us, it’s home. It’s where we live and where our kids go to
room is huge, may fly into town with a few million dollars and may
school. We love the mild winters and lovely spring and fall seasons.
drop hundreds of thousands in a night.
“Hotelies are doing very well in Vegas, whether it’s Mark Birtha
“We call them whales because they’re the biggest fish in the
’94, vice president for development for Marriott International; Greg
sea,” Zanolli said. Naturally, these players are courted by every major
Sheets ’93, vice president for hotel operations for Pechanga Resort
casino: Everyone wants them to play at their tables.
and Casino; or Rebecca Ratner ’97, director of human resources for
It was a challenge when a couple of men in a top-floor suite told
Wynn Resort. “I think that Hotel School graduates have had a better
their butler they wanted a haircut in the suite—in an old-fashioned
education than those from some of the other schools I’ve met out
barber’s chair. Zanolli scrambled, located one at a Syracuse, New
here,” Zanolli said.
York, barber supply company, and had it shipped it out, pronto.
Zanolli was tapped a few years ago to help open the Venetian
“This is a go-to department. We make things happen,” said
Macao and to brand the Paiza Club, the Sands’ private club. Making
Zanolli, who has been doing this for eight years. Four years ago,
three trips to the peninsula of Macao, forty-three miles southwest
he had a staff of twenty-three; now he has double that.
of Hong Kong and ninety miles from Guangzhou, he helped plan
Zanolli, who comes from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was drawn to
rooms and train staff at the nearly $2 billion resort. Vegas and
Las Vegas when he was a junior at the Hotel School. He dreamed of
Macao each generate about $6 billion a year in gaming.
the West: Reno, Tahoe, Vegas. After sending résumés everywhere,
“The Chinese are very serious gamblers,” Zanolli said. “And they
he accepted an offer from The Nugget in Reno. Three years later,
feel it’s a matter of destiny if they are lucky or unlucky. They don’t
when the Silver Legacy (the first new casino in forty years) opened in
buy it that it’s random.”
Reno, he went to work there, at the front desk. When something
went wrong in the casino’s valet parking division, he was made
supervisor to see that no more cars were stolen. Three years as
valet and transportation manager at the Silver Legacy stoked his
ambition. He moved to Las Vegas as soon as he could.
Zanolli’s wife Katherine “K. C.” Connelly is also a hotelie: Class
of ’92. She runs a consulting business from home while also looking
after three young children.

9
 Worldwide Hospitality
Regional vice president for
ARAMARK International
Group, Marc Bruno ’93 was
ARAMARK project leader
at the 2004 Olympics in
Athens, Greece. Today,
Marc is overseeing
preparations for the 2008
Olympics in Beijing, China.
10
Many people long to see the Taj Mahal. Others, to photograph elephants
in Africa or dance in the streets of Rio de Janeiro at Carnaval. With
frequent-flyer miles as an added incentive, it sometimes seems that
everyone who can travels as often and as far as possible. That much you
can see for yourself. Still, do you have any idea how international the
hospitality industry has become?
International in More Ways Than You Might Imagine
International hotels were first established in the 1960s by companies such as Hilton and Inter-
Continental. They were able to attract American tourists and executives to hotels they built,
owned, and ran all over the world. Sheraton was the first to realize that a hotel chain’s success—
and profits—stemmed more from reputation and operation than ownership. Sheraton developed
and sold properties in Hawaii to a company in Japan but continued to manage them and re- Now married,
hotelies Jhorna and
tained “brand control.” Holiday Inn took the next step in the trend, selling to others both the Otto Rincón met as
properties it developed and the right to manage them, while retaining only its brand. students. Jhorna was
Often, a hotel is built by one company, managed by another, and owned by a third. Today’s born in India, and
Hotel School graduates operate in a complex business environment—which is why we teach you her family now lives
in Singapore. Otto,
properties design, planning, finance, investment, management, and marketing (including born in Colombia,
branding). grew up in New
There was a time, too, when American-owned hotels sent American managers overseas. Then, York City. Today,
for a while, international hotel companies favored local managers. Today, nationality is not an students from more
than thirty countries
issue. Americans own and operate centers of hospitality all over the world, and an American ho- attend the Hotel
tel may just as easily be owned by a European group or controlled by a Saudi investor. Where School.
you work depends on your interests, abilities, and connections, more than on your nationality
or anything else.
 Jhorna Rincón ’02
eCommerce Marketing Manager
Marriott International, Inc.
Washington, D.C.

Marta Beatriz Molina–Seal ’96 Otto Rincón ’01

Vice President, Research and Development Financial Associate
Marriott International, Inc. Rockwood Capital Corporation
Washington, D.C. Greenwich, Connecticut

From investors to developers to property owners, the Cornell

name continues to open doors, smoothing the way for her to
conduct business more effectively.
Molina–Seal found out just how well the Cornell name is
Marta Beatriz Molina– known in Latin America soon after she graduated. Her intention
Seal knows it’s true: had to been to stay in New York for her first job, but a lapsed visa
hotelies have a bond forced her to return to her native Panama. As it happened, Molina–
like none other. Seal’s mother had put her photo and graduation announcement in
the local newspaper.
While she graduated fifteen years
“Before I even arrived my mother had eight calls from people
later than Scott Melby M.P.S. ’81,
wanting to hire me,” Molina–Seal recalls. Her first two employers
Molina–Seal owes her current job
—one of the largest hotel-development companies in the
with Marriott International to
region and the Panama Tourism Bureau—were both headed by
Melby, the executive vice president
Cornellians.
for the division to which she was applying. After making it through
“When I was in high school I imagined pursuing a career that
a few rounds of interviews, “what sealed the deal was running into
would have an impact on the way people live,” she says. “The
Scott at a Cornell function,” recalls Molina–Seal.
Hotel School gives you the instant credibility that opens doors in
“Bumping into my future boss was fortuitous. Scott just said:
an industry in which you can get real economic results.”
‘Call me on Monday.’ A week later I got the offer.”
Had she pursued a general education in economics, or develop-
Such strong backing comes, Molina–Seal says, because alumni
ment, or even real estate, Molina–Seal says, she would have been
know the kind of education they themselves received at the Hotel
less valued as a job candidate and less effective in furthering
School and value what that has given to others.
hospitality and tourism—a key engine for the region’s economic
“They know you are not only sharp and well-trained but can
development through creation of new jobs.
handle many things coming at you at once,” Molina–Seal explains.
“Because of my education and the Cornell network, I have
In her case, Molina–Seal simultaneously works on as many as
insider knowledge on how the industry works,” she says.
eight different projects, all part of Marriott’s expansion in Latin
“I am honored to be working for a leading hospitality company
America and the Caribbean. She spends half her time traveling in
such as Marriott because the learning experience never ceases.
the region, helping the company to decide which projects—the
The avenues for professional and personal growth, and assuming
conversion of existing hotels or building of new ones—warrant five
increasing levels of responsibility, are countless,” Molina–Seal says
of Marriott’s brands: Ritz–Carlton, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels,
of the company that Fortune has ranked as the lodging industry’s
Courtyard by Marriott, and Renaissance Hotels. Each hotel project
most admired company and one of the best places to work.
can take from a few months to several years from planning to
opening. It’s Molina–Seal’s job to analyze—from a financial, legal,
and transactional point of view—what it will take from all the par-
ties involved to move a project forward.

11
 A Hotelie and a Cornellian

With only 800 undergraduates, the Hotel School is one of the smallest of
Cornell’s seven undergraduate schools and colleges. But small does not
mean limited.

As a Hotel School student you will take many, but not all, of your courses in Statler Hall. You
will meet other Cornellians in your elective courses—and where you live and dine, at the gym,
concerts, clubs, and other activities, including fraternities and sororities if you choose to join one.
More than 13,500 undergraduates are enrolled at Cornell. Add about 6,000 graduate students
and another 14,500 faculty and staff members, and the Cornell community weighs in at more
than 30,000 people. Think you’ll be able to find a handful of people that you like? The chances are
good you will!
As a first-year student you live on the north campus with students from all seven undergraduate
colleges. After that, you can remain on campus by moving to a west-campus house or residence
hall, joining a campus housing co-op, residing in one of nine thematic program houses, or joining
a fraternity or sorority. You also have the option of taking an apartment off-campus. The choice is
yours.
And Cornell’s food is scrumptious. Cornell Dining’s thirty-one dining locations comprise one
of the top-rated university food services in the country.

12
 Julie Margolin ’99
Director of Operations
Levy Restaurants
Staples Center and NOKIA Theatre at L.A. Live
Los Angeles, California

“The great thing about my education is that it prepared me for all kinds of work. I learned
about gaming, clubs, all types of food-and-beverage service, and more. It was a solid
foundation for applying what I learned to professional roles . . . ”

For a sports fan like JULIE
MARGoLIN, being director of
operations for Levy Restaurants at
Staples Center and the NOKIA
Theatre at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles
has its perks, and getting a “hi
there” nod from Los Angeles Lakers
forward Luke Walton is just the
beginning.
“I love this job,” Margolin said.
“I work at an amazingly busy
property and a lot of what I do is
trouble-shoot at a very high level.”
“Levy Restaurants provides all of
the food and beverage for an arena
that seats more than 20,000,
offering guests everything from fine
dining to general concessions at STAPLES Center, as well as for the
guests of our special event venue that seats more than 7,000 at the
NOKIA Theatre at L.A. LIVE. My role is to serve as the supporting
link between the client, who owns and operates these incredible
venues, and the management team that ensures that guest needs
and expectations are met and exceeded.”
Staples Center, located in downtown Los Angeles, is a multi-
purpose arena that is the home to five professional sports teams:
the Los Angeles Lakers, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Los Angeles
Kings, the Los Angeles Sparks, and the Los Angeles Avengers.
STAPLES Center also plays host to some of the city’s biggest and
most important civic and entertainment events, such as The
Grammy Awards, The Democratic National Convention, major
concerts, and celebrity tributes. NOKIA Theatre at L.A. LIVE opened
in October of 2007 and has already hosted the American Music
Awards, the America Idol Finals, and an incredible line-up of
concerts and family shows in its short time in operation.
Chicago-based Levy Restaurants was the first to serve upscale
food and provide an authentic restaurant experience in sports
stadiums, ballparks, arenas, convention centers, and zoos, according
to Margolin.
“We bring a fine dining experience to places where people do
not expect one, such as Churchill Downs racetrack, Ravinia Festival,
Wrigley Field, and the U.S. Open tennis tournament,” she said.
Margolin directly oversees all food and beverage operations at
STAPLES Center and the NOKIA Theatre at L.A. LIVE, which includes
catering operations, restaurants and clubs, luxury and event suites,
as well as general and premium concessions.
Some of the special circumstances that come with the position
include:
• Servers are taught to appreciate the timing of plays on the court
when serving a table: “touching” a table just as Kobe Bryant
goes for a three-point shot does not make for an exceptional
dining experience.
• Patrons who come to the arena often—five nights a week, for
some—expect variety in their menus: Quality and creativity in
daily menus are key to running a successful arena operation,
with some fans showing up as often as the players on the court.
• Recognizing that sports are big business, and networking in a
suite or over a courtside dinner is powerful.
• Knowing that each guest experience with Levy Restaurants
throughout the arena can be as powerful as what happens on
the event floor.
Before she landed this job Margolin lived at sea. As an inventory
manager for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, working out of Miami,
she saw to it that as many as 3,900 passengers had whatever they
needed in the way of food, beverages, and amenities.
“The great thing about my education is that it prepared me for
all kinds of work,” Margolin said. “I learned about gaming, clubs,
all types of food-and-beverage service, and more. It was a solid
foundation for applying what I learned to professional roles:
working for a cruise line, managing a Marriott, running a traditional
restaurant, or directing operations for a place like STAPLES Center.”
13
 Hospitality Leadership through Learning
The Statler Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center
is the primary teaching tool for the school. The hotel and school are
seamlessly integrated, creating a distinctive educational experience for
students and delivering a unique brand of hospitality for guests. Each
year some 200 students work alongside seasoned professionals across
all hotel and restaurant operations.
A select group of students participate in
the Statler Leadership Development Pro-
gram (SLDP). Serving in part-time, paid po-
sitions, they learn from hotel department
heads in accounting, front-office operations,
human resources, restaurant operations, or
sales and marketing; putting their academic
learning to practical use. Students work
through a series of challenging positions,
gaining knowledge and technical skills while
supervising other students. Many rise into
management positions, further preparing
them for career success.

Timothy Ryan, left, and Michaela Wolfanger, SLDP participants

What is ‘Operations’? A Brief Note on Terminology

You’ll become familiar very quickly with the special language of hospitality. Only rarely does
anyone around here say “general manager,” for example, to refer to the director of a hotel; we
abbreviate the title to GM, and everyone at the school knows what we’re talking about. Not
familiar with “operations”? Basically, operations means anything that has to do with custom-
ers or guests. The rest is non-ops: corporate-office decision-making, financial services, busi-
ness development, and so forth. Don’t worry: you’ll catch on quickly.

14
 Rick Adie ’75
General Manager
The Statler Hotel
Ithaca, New York
Josh DeBottis ’02

Kelly Scalia ’99 Director of Operations

The Statler Hotel
Ithaca, New York

“You are the most important part of the standard-setting institution in the
hospitality industry. Your most important asset is what guests want to see
shine through—your personality. Be professional, of course—but always
be yourself!”

Her official title, director of operations, sounds awfully
impersonal. Kelly Scalia, a Class of 1999 graduate who managed
restaurants at a five-star hotel and an elegant getaway (Philadelphia’s
Four Seasons and California’s Bacara Resort & Spa, respectively)
before returning here for her dream job, is more like the director of
good impressions.
Impressions (good ones or the other kind), she knows, start with
the airport shuttle driver who asks: “How was your flight? What
brings you to Ithaca?”
Impressions are made by the people who prepare and serve
appealing food—in The Statler’s signature restaurant, Taverna Banfi;
catered banquets; or breakfast-in-bed for guests who prefer sunrise
over “America’s most scenic college campus.”
Director Scalia is in charge of all the impression-makers (the ten
managers who report to her supervise about 100 professional and
200 student staffers), “but I can tell you who makes the very best
impressions,” she says. “Guests tell us again and again that the
highlight of their stay was their interaction with the students.”
Those students are on the front lines at The Statler—working
through their required 800-hours of practice credit. “And even if
hands-on management experience were not a requirement,” Scalia
adds, “our students would be here because they want to learn how
to take good care of people.”
As an undergraduate, Scalia knew from the start that she wanted
to enhance the fine-dining experience. She reveled in the Hotel
School’s array of courses in operations and food and beverage
management—more than two dozen, ranging from “Contemporary
Healthy Foods” and “Creating Pleasurable Dining Experiences” to
“Restaurant Entrepreneurship” and “Advanced Hospitality
Quantitative Analysis.”
For Scalia, one particularly influential teacher was Giuseppe G. B.
Pezzotti ‘84, M.P.S. ’96, now an internationally recognized expert in
hospitality service, business etiquette and protocol, and restaurant
operations. “He introduced me to other alumni and he was pivotal in
my return to the Statler Hotel,” Scalia says. “I kept in touch
throughout my career at the Four Seasons and Bacara, and he
continues to be someone I look to for advice and mentorship.”
When he’s not teaching “Restaurant Entrepreneurship” and the
guest-chefs series, “Specialty Foods and Beverage Operations,”
Pezzotti leads executive-education seminars around the world for the
Hotel School. He and Scalia do have one experience in common: both
waited tables before attending Cornell. Pezzotti served in cafés,
ristorantes, and trattorias in Italy before landing a job 65 stories above
Rockefeller Center at the famed Rainbow Room.
There Pezzotti was offered a promotion, to assistant maitre
d’hotel. “No grazie,” he said (politely, of course). “I’ve been accepted
at Cornell.”
Scalia keeps in mind her undergraduate experiences at Cornell and
her life-lessons as a professional when she gives student interns the
day-one pep talk: “You are the most important part of the standard-
setting institution in the hospitality industry. Your most important
asset is what guests want to see shine through—your personality. Be
professional, of course—but always be yourself!”
And who are the most important guests to impress? The many
VIPs who stay at The Statler, perhaps?
Surprisingly, Scalia sets her sights on a younger demographic:
“Prospective students of the School of Hotel Administration who are
visiting campus with their parents and staying in Ithaca’s finest hotel.
We want them to look around and say: ‘So this is what first-rate
service is all about. This is the industry for me, and Cornell is where I
want to learn to lead.’“
When Scalia returned as The Statler’s director of operations, at
first she had one concern: Hotel Ezra Cornell, the annual showcase
event when Hotel School students take over The Statler to host guests
with some very high expectations—returning alumni and industry
executives.
The stakes are high. The whole industry is watching. Suppose the
students mess up? Then Scalia remembered: “These are the students
I helped to train. Cornell Hotelies are the best. They won’t
disappoint.”
She was right. The Hotel Ezra Cornell students made great
impressions that year. Always have. Always will.
15
 A Management Curriculum

The world’s most sophisticated hospitality-management school is also a

part of one of its foremost universities. That’s one of the beauties of the
Hotel School: We offer a pre-professional education in a liberal-arts con-
text. A typical student at the Hotel School earns the bachelor of science
(B.S.) degree by completing required courses in hospitality management,
elective courses in hospitality, distributive electives in the liberal arts,
and free electives. You learn everything from
the planning, design, and construction of
properties to their financing, marketing, and
operation.
Many subjects are similar to any first-rate undergrad-
uate business program: accounting, economics, finance,
marketing, and information technology. But there are
some differences too.
• Business administration courses are taught through their
application to hospitality and related service industries;
• You also learn fundamentals of food-service, lodging,
real estate, design, and other subjects that most business
majors never see;
• The curriculum pulls these subjects together in a way
that makes each one more comprehensible, and therefore
more useful.
credits credits

Operations Facilities Management, Planning and Design

HADM 1105 Introduction to Hotel Operations 2
HADM 1106 Introduction to Food Service Operations 2
HADM 2201 Hospitality Quantitative Analysis 3
HADM 3301 Service Operations Management 3
HADM 3305 Restaurant Management 4
Management and Organizational Behavior
HADM 1115 Organizational Behavior and Interpersonal Skills 3
Human-Resource Management
HADM 2211 Human-Resource Management 3
Finance/Accounting
HADM 1121 Financial Accounting 3
HADM 2221 Managerial Accounting 3
HADM 2222 Finance 3
HADM 3321 Hospitality Financial Management 3
Food and Beverage Management
HADM 2236 Culinary Theory and Practice 4
Marketing, Tourism, and Strategy
HADM 2243 Marketing Management for Services 3
HADM 4441 Strategic Management 3
HADM 2255 Hospitality Development and Planning 3
HADM 3355 Hospitality Facilities Management 3
Managerial Communication
HADM 1165 Managerial Communication I 3
HADM 3365 Managerial Communication II 3
First-Year Writing Seminar 3
Information Systems
HADM 1174 Microcomputing 3
HADM 2275 Introduction to Information Systems
Management 3
Law
HADM 3387 Business and Hospitality Law 3
Economics
HADM 1141 Microeconomics for the Service Industry 3
Total Core credits (courses listed above) 69
Hotel School Elective credits 12
Distributive Elective credits 18
Free Electives 21
Total Credits 120

16
Real Work Experience Typical Sequence of Core Courses
Hotelies are known for arriving at a job and knowing
what to do, and the school’s practice-credit requirement is First Year
an important reason for this. You will do at least 800 • HADM 1105 Introduction to Hotel Operations
hours of fieldwork, known as practice credit, as part of • HADM 1106 Introduction to Food Service Operations
your college education. You can work in the summers, in • HADM 1115 Organizational Behavior and Interpersonal
an off-campus semester-long internship, or part-time dur- Skills
ing the school year. • HADM 1121 Financial Accounting
• HADM 1141 Microeconomics for the Service Industry
A Note on Elective Courses • HADM 1165 Managerial Communication I
You choose 12 elective credits in the Hotel School and 39 • HADM 1174 Microcomputing
elective credits in any of Cornell’s undergraduate schools • First Year Writing Seminar
and colleges. Electives may be concentrated in a particu-
lar area: some students take upper-level, highly specialized Second Year
courses. Other students use their elective choices to de- • HADM 2201 Hospitality Quantitative Analysis
velop breadth instead of depth. • HADM 2211 Human-Resource Management
Students who expect to work abroad often study for- • HADM 2221 Managerial Accounting
eign languages in their distributive and free-elective
• HADM 2222 Finance
courses. Because of the international character of busi-
• HADM 2236 Culinary Theory and Practice
ness, and of hospitality in particular, all students are re-
quired to qualify in a foreign language, either from three • HADM 2243 Marketing Management for Services
years of high school courses or two semesters of courses at • HADM 2255 Hospitality Development and Planning
Cornell. • HADM 2275 Introduction to Information Systems
Distributive electives are liberal-arts courses taken out- Management
What
side the is ‘Operations’?
Hotel School. They must include at least one
A BriefinNote
course each ofontheTerminology
following categories: Third Year
• the
You’ll humanities,
become languages,
familiar fine arts,
very quickly withorthe special lan- • HADM 3301 Service Operations Management
performing arts;
guage of hospitality. Only rarely does anyone around here • HADM 3305 Restaurant Management
say •“general
social sciences;
manager,” for example, to refer to the director • HADM 3321 Hospitality Financial Management
of a•hotel;
biologicalabbreviate
we or physicalthe title toorGM,
sciences and everyone at
mathematics. • HADM 3355 Hospitality Facilities Operations
the school knows what we’re talking about. Not familiar • HADM 3365 Managerial Communication II
with “operations”? Basically, operations means anything • HADM 3387 Business and Hospitality Law
that has to do with customers or guests. The rest is non-
ops: corporate-office decision-making, financial services, Fourth Year
business development, and so forth. Don’t worry: you’ll
• HADM 4441 Strategic Management
catch on quickly.
For details on courses, see Cornell’s Courses of Study at You take most of your required courses in your first
cuinfo.cornell.edu/Academic/Courses/. two years—introductory courses such as HADM 1115
Organizational Behavior and Interpersonal Skills and
industry-specific courses such as HADM 1105 Introduc-
tion to Hotel Operations. This means that by the end of
your first year you know a good deal about the hospitality
field, as well as basic elements of management; are well-
positioned for a relevant and exciting summer job; form
close relationships with other hotelies; and develop ties
to professors who know a lot about you, because faculty
members who teach core courses meet regularly to com-
pare notes.

17

Declaring a Concentration:
A Popular Option
As a Hotel School student at
Cornell, your major is hotel
administration and your
degree will be a bachelor of
science (B.S.) in this field.
However, you may choose
any of four concentrations
Curriculum
within the Hotel School
(Finance, Accounting, and
Real Estate; Hospitality
Facilities and Operations;
Marketing, Strategy, and
Information Systems; and
Organizational Management,
Communication, and Law) or
one of two university-wide
concentrations (Education and
Information Sciences). A con-
centration gives you the op-
portunity to learn a subject in
depth, the chance to know the
professors who teach that sub-
ject, and a way to prepare
yourself for your first position
out of school.
Have a look at some of the
tracks in consentrations at
right. For a complete list of
concentrations and the tracks
offered in each, go to
www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/
academics/ugrad/
concentrations/.
18
Specialty Operations: Clubs, Casinos, Catering, and Spas
track in the Hospitality Facilities and Operations concentration
Designed for those students who plan to make a career in a specialized area of hospitality.
Required Courses:
• HADM 3303 Club Management
• HADM 4403 Specialty Food and Beverage Operations: Guest Chefs
• HADM 4404 Catering and Special Events Management
• HADM 4408 Introduction to Casino Operations
• HADM 6602 Spa and Spa Hotel and Resort Development and Management
Design track in the Hospitality Facilities and Operations concentration
Deals with the planning and design of a variety of hospitality facilities. Careers include hotel interiors and food-
service design, corporate technical assistance, and renovation management.
Required Courses:
• HADM 3351 Hospitality Facilities Design
• HADM 3352 Hotel Planning and Interior Design or HADM 4453 Foodservice Facilities Design (or both)
Recommended Courses:
• HADM 4457 Hotel Development
• ARCH 1501 Drawing I: Freehand Drawing
• ARCH 2602 Building Technology, Materials, and Methods
• DEA 1500 Introduction to Human–Environment Relations
• DEA 3030 Interior Materials and Sustainable Elements
• DEA 3500 Human Factors: The Ambient Environment
Services Marketing Management track in the Marketing, Strategy, and Information
Systems concentration
Focuses on how to get and keep profitable customers. It is appropriate for anyone planning a career in consulting,
distribution, sales, marketing, and/or marketing research.
Required Courses:
• HADM 3343 Marketing Research for Decision Makers
• HADM 3347 Consumer Behavior
Recommended Courses (two of the following):
• HADM 3374 Fundamentals of Database Management and Data Analysis
• HADM 4442 Strategic Marketing
• HADM 4444 Hospitality Pricing and Analysis
• HADM 4447 Managing Hospitality Distribution Strategies
• HADM 5540 Brand Management
• HADM 6645 Services Marketing and Customer Experience Management
Corporate Finance/Financial Consulting track in the Finance, Accounting, and Real
Estate concentration
Designed for students seeking a career as a financial consultant in a hospitality consulting firm and as a corporate
finance analyst in a hospitality company.
Required Courses (four of the following):
• HADM 4423 Hospitality Real Estate Finance
• HADM 4426 Advanced Corporate Finance
• HADM 4427 Multinational Finance and International Risk Management
• HADM 4429 Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management
• HADM 6622 Hospitality Asset Management
• HADM 6624 Reporting and Analysis of Financial Statements
• HADM 6625 Securitization and Structured Financial Products
Independent Restaurant Operations track in the Hospitality, Facilities, and
Operations concentration
Focuses on the skills and competencies necessary for the management, operation, and ownership of an
entrepreneurial or independent restaurant enterprise. Along with ownership, career opportunities include general
restaurant management, fine dining, private clubs, and small hotel operations.
Required Courses:
• HADM 4401 Restaurant Entrepreneurship
• HADM 4435 Selection, Procurement, and Supply Management
(plus any of the following which will yield at least 12 credits in the track)
• HADM 3303 Club Management
• HADM 4403 Specialty Food and Beverage Operations: Guest Chefs
• HADM 4431 Wine and Food Pairing Principles and Promotion
• HADM 4436 Beverage Management
• HADM 4451 Restaurant Development
• HADM 4453 Foodservice Facilities Design
• HADM 6606 Restaurant Revenue Management

Serena Yang ’00
Interior Designer
David Howell Design
New York, New York
“You know, the school really drills it into you
to follow up on job opportunities, so I called
every day until finally the woman I was try-
ing so hard to reach picked up the phone.
‘You want an internship?’ she asked. ‘You’ve
got it. If you’re good enough for Professor
Penner, you’re good enough for us!’”
In her third year at the Hotel School, Serena Yang
discovered hospitality design, and the world opened like
a flower. It was in Professor Richard Penner’s Hospitality
Development and Planning course that she realized there
is even more to hospitality than operations and finance.
As a high school student in Taiwan in 1996, she first
considered Cornell after a friend’s sister highly recom-
mended the Hotel School and because of a familial rela-
tionship to a hotel owner in Taiwan. That, coupled with
former President Lee Teng Hui’s visit to Cornell in 1995,
his first since earning his Ph.D. at Cornell in 1968, influ-
enced Yang’s decision to apply.
Because of Lee’s visit, “Cornell was especially popular
among my graduating class,” she said.
“Most people at the Hotel School concentrate on
finance or food-and-beverage management, and that’s
what the school is best known for,” Yang said. “But the
properties program is great too!”
Penner agrees: “This is the only hotel school that
teaches design; and many people—certainly hoteliers
and restaurateurs—believe that interior design and
décor is a very important part of any hotel or restaurant
experience.”
Penner turned out to be an invaluable mentor.
Whenever Yang mentioned his name, heads turned.
“The summer after junior year I sent my résumé
around looking for a summer internship. You know, the
school really drills it into you to follow up on job oppor-
tunities, so I called every day until finally the woman I
was trying so hard to reach picked up the phone. ‘You
want an internship?’ she asked. ‘You’ve got it. If you’re
good enough for Professor Penner, you’re good enough
for us!’”
That was at Wilson and Associates, one of the two
biggest hospitality-design firms in the country.
After graduating, Yang was offered a job working
with M. Arthur Gensler Jr. AAP ’58 in San Francisco—
another case of a Cornellian who made her feel “you
really belong to a community just because you went to
this school”—but instead chose to take a position with
Wilson’s New York City office.
Among other projects, she was part of a team that
designed a 190-room boutique hotel in Boston from
start to finish; but soon afterwards the events of Septem-
ber 11, 2001 put hospitality projects on hold. Some work
on residences led to thoughts about retail and residential
design, and a certificate program in interior design at
Parsons School of Design encouraged Yang to apply for a
new job, with David Howell Design, also in New York.
“I still enjoy working on hotel interiors but I wanted
to branch out, and this seemed like the time to do it,”
she said. “In David’s company, there’s more emphasis on
interior architectural construction and millwork than on
fabrics and furniture. I feel like I’m in my world at last.”
19
 Understanding People Is Key
“Life is service. The one who progresses is the one who gives his fellow
men a little more, a little better service.”
Ellsworth M. Statler

A creative thinker who enjoys serving others

and has a head for business—that’s the Hotel
School ideal. It’s important that you like people,
but it’s not nearly enough to be a “people per-
son” who gets along easily with others. To lead,
you need to understand people, and that’s lot
more challenging.
Hospitality is ultimately about providing services, rather
than producing products, so it is a labor-intensive industry that
requires skilled human-resource management. As soon as you
graduate you may be supervising a large number of people,
many of them older and more experienced than you are. To be
respectful and assertive at the same time does not necessarily
come naturally—nor do things like knowing how to train peo-
ple to be consistently courteous.
Skill in working with others is something that we teach, and that you need to know. Even in
activities such as financial analysis you will be a better analyst if you are skillful with people. You
cannot appraise a property holed up in an office: you need to go out into the field to collect in-
formation, and you won’t get what you need by ordering people to share information with you.
So whether you go to work for a restaurant group or a consulting company, you will discover
that people skills count.

The Hotel School’s Group-Learning Style

To prepare for the world of work, we emphasize teamwork and group projects—so much so that
after your “nth” assignment someone is likely to say, “Not another group project!” In fact, you
cannot get enough of these. They challenge you in ways that working alone does not.
Most hotelies come into Cornell with leadership skills. They excelled as sports captains and or-
ganizational officers in high school. But getting a group of leaders to work together is another
story. It involves sharing leadership, playing to one another’s strengths, and taking responsibility
without taking ownership. Even the best students find this a challenge.
One of the school’s most popular team projects is part of a required course: HADM 3305
Restaurant Management. In this course student managers run the Statler Hotel’s Taverna Banfi.
They plan the menu, order the food, prepare the meals, and supervise their classmates who serve
and clean up. If they do well, the proof is literally in the pudding—or whatever they serve.
This full-service restaurant is a learning environment where you apply and test a range of
managerial principles and operational skills. It’s excellent experience if you want to open a res-
taurant or own a property that has one, and it’s good experience in cooperation even if you don’t.
Of course, you do get expert advice. A chef instructor and your professor back you up in the
kitchen, answering questions, troubleshooting problems, and double-checking cost estimates,
revenue projections, and your marketing plan. It’s less about learning to cook than learning to
manage—and to deal with the people who help you pull this off.

20

“If you had asked me when I graduated from
school if I could have predicted this, the an-
swer is No, I couldn’t. Even four or five years
ago I couldn’t see all the exciting things that
I’d be doing—or that I’d go from intern to
executive in just ten years.”
“You never know where opportunity will take you,”
said Carl Mittleman ’97. “Sometimes a little risk will reap a huge
reward.”
Mittleman, who received the Joseph Drown Foundation Prize,
the school’s highest award, when he graduated from the Hotel School,
went to work straightaway for ARAMARK, a well-established, well-
diversified company, and he has worked there ever since—in
increasingly challenging jobs.
Now, as head of ARAMARK’s Parks and Resorts Division, West,
he oversees lodging and tourism at national and state parks, including
Mesa Verde National Park, Lake Tahoe National Forest, Pikes Peak,
Muir Woods, Hearst Castle, and Olympic National Park’s Lake Quinault
Lodge, Kalaloch Lodge, and Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort.
Prior to this, he served as vice president of operations for
ARAMARK’s Alaska business and was responsible for lodging, food
and beverage, retail, transportation, tour, recreation, and support
operations at Denali and Glacier Bay National Parks.
His career began with an internship at Coors Field in Denver.
Moving up to general manager of PNC Park in Pittsburgh, he then
hopped out to Los Angeles to be resident district manager for
operations at Dodger Stadium—with a year in Europe as director
of ARAMARK’s international sports and entertainment.
Carl Mittleman ’97
Vice President of Operations, West
ARAMARK, Inc.
Denver, Colorado
Just before he transferred up to Alaska he was district manager
of stadiums and arenas for Central California, responsible for ten
locations: stadiums, arenas, amphitheatres, and day-use parks.
“If you had asked me when I graduated from school if I could
have predicted this, the answer is No, I couldn’t,” he said. “Even
four or five years ago I couldn’t see all the exciting things that I’d be
doing—or that I’d go from intern to executive in just ten years.
“I think that says a lot about ARAMARK: They take chances on
young people and give them the opportunity to grow. I feel like I
keep evolving and growing because this company recognizes and
rewards talent.”
Mittleman now has multiple district managers reporting to him
as he oversees parks destinations from California to Colorado and
Arizona to Nevada.
“Parks are a matter of environmental stewardship,” he said.
“You want to provide people with a delightful food and beverage
experience in a way that does not harm the environment.. . . One
of the things we’re working to develop are green buildings,” he said.
A few times each year he visits Ithaca—to lecture at the Hotel
School, recruit employees for ARAMARK, and keep in touch with
favorite members of the food and beverage management faculty,
including Giuseppe Pezzotti, Rupert Spies, and Therese O’Connor.
“We interview between forty and fifty students in two or three
days when we are recruiting,” he said. “And we do this a couple of
times a year. That’s because the future of the company depends on
finding the best and brightest recent graduates. A special bond exists
between ARAMARK and the Hotel School that helps to make Cornell
one of the best places for the company to recruit.
ARAMARK’s company culture supports interns and new hires.
Management teams work to make sure that students succeed,
Mittleman said. In Alaska, he had the opportunity to hire Katie Levy
’06. He also supervised six students on rotational internships.
“Not a day goes by that I don’t lean on the educational values of
the Hotel School,” Mittleman said. “I’m sure they made me the kind
of ethical and professional leader that I am.”
For one thing, he said, “You can never underestimate the value
of personal relations. They matter personally and professionally, in
your life and in your career,” he said.
“And back when I was selling hot dogs and beer as fast as I could
at PNC Park I never guessed I’d have the chance to be involved in the
kinds of experiences I’ve had since then,” he added.
21
 Student Life
Hotelies tend to be bons vivants. They exhibit a zest for life. They also tend
to be confident, engaging people, with an interest in travel and unfamiliar
cultures. There are student organizations at the Hotel School for wines and
food, international hoteliers, and several others devoted to career choices
such as sales and marketing and club management.
Jessica Lee
“Everyone always says how great Cornell’s alumni
network is, and you don’t really believe it. But it turns
out it’s true!” says Jessica Lee, a hotelie from Australia
who found alumni in Sydney friendly and willing to
help her get started.
“When you take advantage of the school you see that it’s like a
family, it’s a unique community; and once you’re part of it, you’re in
it for life,” she added.
Like many other students, Lee entered Cornell thinking that hos-
pitality was more or less food and beverages and hotel rooms. Yet
she wasn’t a foodie. She didn’t even know how to cook.
“I was terrified by the rumors about HADM 2236 Culinary Theory
and Practice,” she said. “I couldn’t cook to save my life, this was a
required course, and the professor had a reputation for being tough
and professional. All semester I dreaded the final lab, ‘Copper Chef,’
like the TV show, ‘Iron Chef.’ We were handed ingredients and told
to prepare a three-course meal. I was absolutely amazed at what I
could do by the end of that class.”
After her freshman year at school, Lee went back to Australia for
her first real-world experience in operations at two properties under
the Accor Hotel brand.
The following summer, she and her sister Catherine, who is one
year behind her at the Hotel School, worked at the exclusive five-
star Hayman Island Resort on the Great Barrier Reef.
Due, no doubt, to her new-found comfort with all things
culinary, Lee was assigned a special project in the resort’s food-and-
beverage department: standardizing menus.
“You might not think this was important, but it was,” she said.
“Employment practices in Australia require everyone who works to be
a full-time employee; they don’t allow part-time workers. So when
22
occupancy drops at the resort, people are actually asked to take
vacations. Since many people don’t return to work after their time
off, the resort has to hire and train new people, including chefs and
kitchen assistants. To help maintain the integrity of the menu, I
worked on standardizing the preparation process for many of the
dishes,” she said.
The following year in school Lee decided that food-and-
beverage management was not her chosen area in hospitality,
and so after completing required courses in finance, she enrolled in
another course with a reputation for rigor, HADM 3323 Hospitality
Real Estate Finance.
“This class was one of the most challenging things I have ever
done,” she said. “Many nights I worked on the assigned cases until
4 a.m.! Using Excel software in sophisticated ways, we evaluated
actual cases in hospitality real estate. Normally you need back-
ground knowledge to do the types of assignments we were given,
but at the Hotel School you learn to do without it.”
A successful winter externship at Jones Lang LaSalle, the
real-estate and asset-management group, led Lee to arrange for
a summer internship with Ernst and Young’s real-estate advisory
and hospitality-feasibility consulting group.
“I like financial analysis because I can use my operational
background together with my skills in finance. You need to know
how a hotel operates to make informed decisions when you
evaluate financial statements and analyze an operation’s efficiency,”
she said.
“My biggest goal, as I think about graduating and leaving the
Hotel School,” she said, “is to stay involved in things that will let me
keep on learning—and not to settle down right away.”
 Hotel School student volunteers set a Guinness World
Record by making a giant spring roll—officially measur-
ing 435 meters long—as part of an event called “Roll for
Relief” that raised more than $20,000 for tsunami relief
in Southeast Asia.

Dale Winham
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that’s where hospitality began for Dale Winham.
The Mount Rushmore State lets youths work and drive at age 14, and Winham
worked for Minerva’s restaurants at its flagship Italian-themed Spezia starting
in his freshman year in high-school.

“What really piqued my passion
for hospitality was the Sunday
brunch. That was my baby,”
Winham said. “It was famous,
voted the best Sunday brunch in Sioux Falls, and I was in charge
of it as a high school junior. Five hundred people every Sunday
from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. I was in there the day before cutting
fruit and making task lists, and I was in every Sunday at 7 a.m.
getting ready.
“I am certainly enjoying my classes here at the Hotel School,
and I’m doing very well, but I’m a hands-on person and I learn
more by doing, like working at the Statler Hotel, which I’ve done
since freshman year here,” he said.
For college he felt he had to choose between a culinary
school and a business school. After visiting Cornell, he applied
early decision. In his free time he reads Nation’s Restaurant News,
the last book he read was Soul of a Chef, and he watches the
Food Network regularly, especially Alton Brown’s Good Eats. For
distributive electives, he chose French, statistics, sociology, and
the anthropology of food and cuisine. He plans to declare a
concentration in Hospitality Facilities and Operations.
But he’s not all F & B. He says he thoroughly enjoyed a hotel
development and design course that changed his way of thinking
about the way hotels are planned—and it was a nice change
from food to technical engineering.
“I’m not into the glitz and glamour of five-star dining,” he
said. “I prefer quick service where you can converse easily with
customers. Working for Potbelly Sandwich Works at the Eden
Prairie Center, in an upscale Minneapolis suburb, you would see
the same people who worked in the mall or came on their lunch
break. I could remember their orders or carry on running
conversations like I did with a woman who worked at the Barnes
& Noble store.
“I like people. I think it’s more interesting than fine-dining
restaurants where you are, basically, a servant. So I think that’s
where I’m heading, to something entrepreneurial, a bakery/café,
where people come in for conversation with their lunch.
“Long-term I might like to own a number of regional specialty
markets with my bakery/café concept, places where locals hang
out and chat, and enjoy great food with excellent service.”
Winham has plenty of experience—and even more honors
and merit scholarships. He has been a front-of-the-house
manager for the Dean’s Awards Dinner at Hotel Ezra Cornell,
completed an externship at ARAMARK’s national conference
center in Landsdowne, Virginia, and worked as a summer
catering intern for the company in Minneapolis–St. Paul (near
where his girlfriend attends college). He is active in the Cornell
Hotel Society’s collegiate chapter, Hotel School Ambassadors,
and The Statler Leadership Development Program.
“The single best activity I’ve been involved in is the new
program at the Statler,” he said. “I’ve worked bellstand, turn-
down service, receiving, banquet service, bartending, and the
kitchen, and soon will become student banquet manager.
“That should be great experience, being at the top of the
chain of command and overseeing my fellow students as we run
the department. That’s the route I’ve taken. For me, being a
student manager in the Statler’s banquet’s department is an
experience I would not give up for any other.” 23
 Hotel Ezra Cornell
Hotel Ezra Cornell is an annual conference hosted by Hotel School students
for hospitality industry leaders. HEC, as it is called, dates back to 1925 when
Dean Howard Meek took a group of students to New York City to manage
the Hotel Astor for a day. After that, students began to hold a “hotel for a
day” in Ithaca to invite industry leaders to become acquainted with the
school.
Now, the weekend strikes a thoughtful balance between interaction, education, and entertainment.
For the guests, HEC is a three-day weekend of educational seminars, leisure activities, and food-and-
beverage events. For the students, HEC can be a year’s worth of hard work, commitment, and excite-
ment culminating in an impressive display of their efforts and talent. HEC is a leadership development
experience grounded in experiential learning, with the mission of “Showcasing Hospitality Education
through Student Leadership.”

HEC gives students a chance

to bring together everything
they know about opera-
tions and management and
showcase their talents to the
industry. Hundreds of execu-
tives are invited and attend
each year. Many HEC direc-
tors land their first job after
college as the result of the
impression they made during
HEC weekend.

Student Organizations
Club Managers Association of America
The Cornell Chapter of CMAA promotes closer
friendly ties between CMAA, professional club
managers, and Cornell students.
Catering and Special Events Society
The Catering and Special Events Society helps
educate students about and promotes involvement
in the catering and special-events segment of the
hospitality industry. It builds valuable, long-lasting
educational and professional relationships with
leading catering and special-events professionals
through networking events, presentations, work-
shops, and field trips.
Cornell Dinner Club
The Cornell Dinner Club seeks to expand students’
knowledge of foods and beverages through activi-
ties that stimulate learning in a social atmosphere.
Cornell Hospitality Advisory
The Cornell Hospitality Advisory prepares students
who wish to pursue a consulting career by present-
ing guest speakers, round-tables with industry
leaders, case studies, and panel discussions with
alumni.
Cornell Hotel Society
The Collegiate Chapter of CHS supports Hotel
School students and their special interests through
biweekly meetings of student leaders, school-wide
community service events, and regional represen-
tation of alumni chapters.
Cornell University Spa Association
CUSPA fosters education and awareness amongst
students about the global spa industry and serves
as a link between professionals and students.
24
Hospitality Finance Society
The Hospitality Finance Society enhances its mem-
bers’ application of classroom-taught hospitality-
finance theory in the real world. It provides
opportunities to network, learn from finance
professionals, and participate in the American
Lodging Investment Summit.
Hospitality Law Society
The Hospitality Law Society, the only university
hospitality law organization in the U.S., fosters the
academic, social, and professional growth of its
members by sponsoring legal scholarship activities,
to aid students with the law school admissions
process, to educate them about legal issues in
hospitality, and to increase the representation of
Hotel School undergraduates in law school and the
legal profession.
Hospitality Real Estate Club
The Hospitality Real Estate Club is a group of stu-
dents who share their passion for all aspects of
hospitality real estate finance, banking, and devel-
opment. It fosters an understanding of industry
and marketplace trends, providing opportunities to
network with hospitality professionals.
Hospitality Students International
HSI works to increase multicultural and global
awareness and promote work opportunities
among its members in the Hotel School and other
hospitality programs worldwide.
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association
International
HSMAI provides hospitality students with insights
into the marketing profession as well as opportuni-
ties to gain valuable marketing experience in the
hospitality industry.
Hotelie Entrepreneurs
Hotelie Entrepreneurs organizes think-tanks,
guest-speaker seminars, and business competi-
tions, all to help students exercise their creativity
to develop successful enterprises.
Hotelies Serving Society (HS2)
A Hotel School volunteer organization that encour-
ages students to volunteer their time and service
to help better the community and to gain recogni-
tion, certificates, rewards, and scholarships for
their participation in volunteer projects.
National Society of Minorities in Hospitality
NSMH is a national nonprofit organization that
seeks to promote hospitality education, foster
professional advancement for minorities, and
create awareness of minority diversity in the
hospitality industry.
School of Hotel Administration Ambassadors
Ambassadors promote a positive image of the
School of Hotel Administration to visitors, includ-
ing industry leaders, incoming students, and
alumni. They act as a support system, in the role
of student advisers, for first-year and transfer
students. Ambassadors also serve as hosts for
companies holding receptions in the Hotel School.
Student Committee for Continuous
Improvement
SCCI’s mission is to utilize the talents of students,
faculty, staff members, and the administration to
create and facilitate positive change.
Ye Hosts Honorary Society
The Ye Hosts Honorary Society is a group of
selected students who strive to set examples
of overall excellence in the Hotel School, to
serve fellow students, and to make charitable
contributions to the community.

John Zeltmann ’02
“[How service] applies to business—that’s what
I got from the Cornell Hotel School.”
Four years into a career in asset management, John
Zeltmann resigned, married classmate Rebecca Ehrlich, and
the two embarked on a three-month honeymoon
backpacking in Chile, Argentina, and Peru.
Adventurous? Yes. Impulsive? No. Zeltmann and Ehrlich
departed without knowing what they would do when they
came back, but they had carefully planned and saved for the
trip for a year or more. Conscientious by nature, Zeltmann had
been managing director of the 77th Hotel Ezra Cornell.
“A trip like this teaches you things about yourselves that
you don’t learn anywhere else,” Zeltmann said. “For one
thing, it forced us to lean on each another. And we learned
that we make decisions well together. Living in New York City
you don’t have to count on each other for most basic things.
You do when you are far from home, when you are together
24/7 for eighty or ninety days . . . and when only one of you
speaks Spanish.” (Ehrlich does.)
The high point of their journey? Machu Picchu.
“We were camped there for several days,” Zeltmann said.
“It is beyond words or anything you can imagine. Any
comment I could make would be an understatement. It is one
of most amazing things I have ever seen. That, and the
Peruvian Amazon. I feel so fortunate to have visited these
places,” he said.
Before they left, Zeltmann had been an asset manager for
Tishman Hotel and Realty, working in The Westin New York at
Times Square.
Andrea Kepic ’96
Vice President
Tishman Hotel Corporation
New York, New York
Eventually, Zeltmann enrolled in a course at Farleigh
Dickinson University to become a certified financial planner.
Two days a week he commuted to New York City to work for
Tishman and train a new employee at the Westin. Ehrlich,
meanwhile, enrolled in the College of Saint Elizabeth to earn a
master’s degree in nutrition and dietetics.
Are they still hotelies? For sure. “I think you’d be selling the
school short if you said that anyone who left the hospitality
industry was no longer part of the group,” Zeltmann said.
“Both of our new career paths are extensions of our
training at the Hotel School. Rebecca has always been
interested in food—she has had to be, because she has
allergies to wheat and to eggs—and food-and-beverage
courses sparked her interest in making a career in food. In the
field of nutrition she will be building on some of her training at
the Hotel School.”
As an asset manager, Zeltmann examined daily, monthly,
and annual performance reports of the hotel and met with its
executive team to discuss those results. As a financial planner,
he will examine the financial affairs of individuals, instead of
properties.
“Sometimes I think, ‘What would people at the Hotel
School think of what I’m doing?’” Zeltmann asked aloud.
“Sometimes the question feels like it should bring on an
identity crisis.
“But I believe the relationship between a financial planner
and his or her client depends on service, and that this is the
most significant element.
“Service permeates all that people do. It may be the single
most important thing you learn at the Hotel School. It’s not
about how to pour wine into a glass. It’s not about how to do
a cash-flow analysis. Anyplace can teach you to add numbers,”
he said.
“The concept of service and how it applies to business—
that’s what I got from the Cornell Hotel School.”
25
 After You Graduate
Launching Your Career
When you’re a hotelie entering the job market, the issue is not getting a posi-
tion, it’s getting the right one. Students who start their searches early invari-
ably come up with several offers. Building on previous employment is always
a good idea. During four years at school you’ll have ample opportunity to de-
velop contacts and assemble a track record, using internships and summer
jobs as a springboard to your first permanent position after graduation.

Most hotelies start out in hospitality—about half of them in hotel and restaurant operations, the
best-known part of the business. This involves the day-to-day running of hotels, restaurants, and
other facilities. These operations can be very sophisticated, requiring knowledge of accounting, cost
control, marketing, purchasing, and human resources.

Advancing Your Career

The more than 11,000 alumni of the Hotel School can be found in every facet of the industry, from
hotel operations to multiunit restaurant management. You will also find hotelies in affiliated busi-
nesses—such as consulting, e-commerce, food manufacturing, investment banking and venture
capital, real-estate finance and development, and stock-market analysis.
At last count, some 75 percent of Hotel School graduates were still involved in the industry after
ten years or more. Some 50 percent were managers, consultants, or entrepreneurs in the hospitality
field, and another 25 percent were employed in affiliated business fields.
Some occupations straddle the line between traditional and nontraditional Hotel School careers.
Asset managers, for example, work for property owners, watching changes in real-estate values and
return on investment—all the financial matters related to a property. Hotelies are particularly well-
suited as asset managers in the industry, and can apply their skills to other properties as well. Increas-
ingly, the industry needs people to work as brand managers and concern themselves with the retailing
implications of disparate ownership. Along with sales, branding is a big chunk of marketing these
days, and it, too, can be done both inside and outside the industry.

26
Career Management
The Hotel School’s Student Services Office will work with you to devise an individualized job-search
strategy. Staff members are on call as early as your freshman year. They organize annual on-campus
recruiting—a career fair—and the Management Intern Program and practice credit (required work
experience).
More than 100 companies send recruiters to the school every year, looking for seniors for permanent
employment and for sophomores and juniors eager to prove themselves in summer jobs and internships.
The office keeps summer—and permanent—employment lists, files of company literature, and
alumni directories to help in your job search. Staff members also offer sessions on career-related topics
that include self-assessment, résumé and cover-letter writing, networking, interviewing, and assessing
job offers.

Where Do Hotelies Go?

by percent of students responding

hotel, resort, convention center,

and conference management 26

banking, consulting, and

financial services 21

restaurants 14

real estate development, finance,

and brokerage 11

gaming and casinos 4

other* 24
* e-commerce/travel distribution, education,
entrepreneurial ventures, hotel design,
information technology, retail, spas, theme
parks, tourism

27
 The Faculty

The Hotel School’s almost sixty permanent faculty members and ten to fif-
teen visiting professors represent a collective wealth of knowledge about the
hospitality field, much of it gained in firsthand industry experience. In the
final analysis, the school’s reputation derives from their collective expertise.

The research that Cornell professors conduct influences the way the industry evaluates assets,
considers pricing, and carries out other important functions. And they publish more scholarly pa-
pers on aspects of hospitality than any other group of scholars. The first industry-wide study of
management contracts was produced by a Cornell professor, as was the award-winning study, “Best
Practices in the Lodging Industry.” They are well represented in hospitality organizations and asso-
ciations and often speak at conferences, serve on advisory boards, and consult on special projects.
Still, the primary responsibility of the faculty is to teach students. You can make an appoint-
ment to meet a professor during his or her weekly office hours, but those are hardly the only hours
professors are accessible. And until your plan of study is firmly fixed, you will probably value your
professors as much for their willingness to act as advisors as for their teaching ability. Every student
has a faculty advisor to turn to for advice on any topic—from coursework to personal concerns.

Current Hotel School Faculty Research

• environmental stewardship
• investment values of lodging properties
• Internet distribution channels
• performance benchmarking
• productivity analysis
• stock-market pricing mechanisms
• tourism development
• yield management in restaurants

28

Shaun Stewart ’01
Director, Market Management
Expedia, Inc.
Sydney, Australia
“Connections help ease the way. At Expedia’s annual Christmas
party we see everyone who works for the company and went to
the Hotel School.”
If you thrive on hard work, travel, and trips to the beach,
the job Shaun Stewart has with Expedia, Inc. might appeal: The
young Hotel School alumnus is a market manager for the online
reservations company, Expedia, based in Australia, where he
grew up. Australia, New Zealand, and French Polynesia are his
market.
“This is a great company to work for,” Stewart said. “I’ve lived
in five cities in six years and visited countless others. The work is
fast-paced and the company expects results, but it’s an ideal way
to combine career growth with the fun of nearly constant travel.
“When I met Expedia Vice President Jim Ferguson, on campus,
he was passionate about online business. For the first couple of
minutes he interviewed me, and then we talked about his com-
pany and how quickly it was growing. I was captivated.
“A job interview can tell you if a company is right for you. If
you like the person interviewing you—Ferguson, for example,
was outgoing, casual, and intelligent—it’s probably an indication
of a good match. And Expedia was just right for me: The com-
pany is young, energetic, and growing. It’s moving into new re-
gions of the world. Now that I’m a market manager I basically
run my own company within the company. No one is a bigger
expert than you for your region, so you do things your way,” he
said.
Stewart’s career at Expedia began in Las Vegas, one of the
company’s two offices, the other being in Washington State.
There he observed Expedia’s informal but intense company cul-
ture. He liked it. Business was ready to boom. He got on board.
Managing the Washington, D.C., market from an office in Las
Vegas was his first assignment. When the company opened a
New York City office, Stewart transferred there. A few years later
he worked in London for several months, returned to New York,
and then moved out to Hong Kong where he managed the Hong
Kong and Thailand markets.
Gracelda Makurah, M.M.H. ’00 (below left) and Vincent
Trapenard M.M.H. ’04 (below, second from right) are responsible
for the northwest United States and Europe, respectively.
From Australia he oversees Australia, Bora Bora, Fiji, Moorea,
New Zealand, and Tahiti. In 2006 he was made director of the
region. India, Singapore, and the parts of the South Asian Pacific
region covered from Hong Kong are also his domain. One of his
first challenges was to recruit staff for an Expedia India market
office in Mumbai.
“In India and China there is an enormous amount of domestic
travel,” he said. “Expedia was smart to get into Europe when it
did. We are number-one there in online reservations. I predict we
will see enormous growth in China and India and in Japan and
Australia. It will be a first for people in India and China to be able
to go online and make travel arrangements.”
Stewart and the Hotel School graduates who report to him as
market coordinators and account managers apply to their jobs
what they learned in school: how to analyze and investigate a
market, establish relationships with clients, and write and renew
contracts. Nearly all of the company’s market managers practice
yield management, a technique to maximize profits through flex-
ible pricing.
“None of us got into this because we wanted to do only rev-
enue and pricing analysis. We all wanted to be sales managers
and to pitch accounts. This job is perfect because you have to do
both,” Stewart said.
“Connections help ease the way. At Expedia’s annual Christ-
mas party we see everyone who works for the company and
went to the Hotel School. And at Hotel School alumni events
we meet hotel general managers and can talk about Expedia,”
he said. “These connections help you do your job well, especially
in the places where you need them the most, which for me are
the new international markets, such as the South Pacific.”
29
 Industry Connections
With so many well-placed alumni, it’s no wonder so many distinguished guests
visit the Hotel School each year. Many were hotelies, who enjoy the homecoming
and relish the chance to recruit while they are here. Others have studied in Hotel
School executive-education seminars or have collaborated with members of the
Hotel School faculty for research or consultation.
Whatever the connection, a steady stream of industry leaders passes through the school ev-
ery year: as many as 250 guests, or about ten each week when school is in session. No, that’s not
a misprint. In addition to learning from a stellar resident faculty, you’ll have access to two dis-
tinguished visitors a day.
The course Distinguished Lectures in Hospitality Management brings guests to the school
every week in the fall term. The lectures are a semester-long class for credit (HADM 1110) that
students invariably find worthwhile.

Distinguished Lecturers in Hospitality Management

Andrew Tisch ’71
Chair, Executive
Committee of the Board,
Loews Corporation
Pablo Azcarraga ‘85, COO and Member of the Board, Grupo Posadas
Brian Canlis ‘01, Director, Department of Adventure, Canlis Restaurant
Chris Canlis, Owner, Canlis Restaurant
Mark Canlis ‘97, Managing Owner, Canlis Restaurant
Jerry Cohen, Vice Chairman & CEO, Canyon Ranch
Catalina D. Ganis ‘85, Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Elliot Executive Source Ltd.,
and Senior Vice President, Elliot Associates, Inc., Divisions of the Elliot Group, LLC
Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos ‘85, Principal and Director of Marketing, Flag Luxury Properties
Grace Leo ‘77, President & CEO, G.L.A. Hotels
Robert J. McCarthy, President, North American Lodging Operations & Global Brand Management, Marriott International
Gregory J. Miller ‘84, Co-CEO and President, PM Hospitality Strategies, Inc.
David B. Pollin ‘90, President, The Buccini / Pollin Group, Inc.
Eric Resnick, Managing Director, KSL Capital Partners, LLC
John P. Rijos ‘75, Co-President, Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.
David E. Strang ‘82, Board Member, Strang Corporation; President and CEO, Chilgo LLC
Donald W. Strang III ‘80, President and CEO, Strang Corporation
Peter W. Strang ‘84, Executive Vice President, Strang Corporation
Mel Zuckerman, Founder & Chairman, Canyon Ranch

Some Recent Guest Speakers at the Hotel School

We told you that some 250 guests come to the Hotel School every year to speak before classes and meet with students. Here
are just a few of the guests who came in a particular year. Some of them addressed a single class, others stayed longer. All of
our guests add immeasurably to the school: They bring up-to-the-moment reports on the state of the industry, its issues, its
needs, and its opportunities.
Arthur Adler ’78, CEO and Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle Elaine Fenard, Vice President, International Spa Development and
Leslie Anderson ’93, Vice President, Revenue Management Operations, Operations, Starwood Hotels and Resorts
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Winnie Fong, CFA, Standard & Poor’s
Christine Arnholt, Vice President, Marketing Services, Carnival Cruise Rafael Gonzalez, Sous Chef, The Pierre, A Four Seasons Hotel
Line Bjorn Hanson ’73, Global Industry Leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Roy Barnes, Senior Vice President, Customer Strategy, Marriott Vacation Kevin Kearney ’83, Executive Vice President, International Hotel
Club International Development, Marriott International
Michael R. Beam ’97, Managing Director, HVS International Jeffrey Knapp, Senior Human Resources Director, ARAMARK CTS
James Blauvelt, Director of Catering, The Waldorf=Astoria Larry Lewin ’74, President, Casino Niagara and Niagara Fallsview Casino
Daniel Boulud (Hon.), Owner, Restaurant Daniel John Livingston, President, Tischman Construction Company
Marc Brett ’82, Director of Contract Administration, Hilton Hotels David Meltzer, Director, Global Accounts and Operations, Travelocity
Corporation Richard Morgan ’76, Vice President and Managing Director, Grand Hyatt
Andre Carrier ’92, COO, Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino New York
Jean–Michel Cazes, Winemaker, Chateau Lynch Bages, Conseil des Chris Painter, Customer Service Manager, American Airlines
Grands Crus Classes du Medoc Michael Reichartz, Vice President of Lodging, Expedia.com
Philip Di Belardino, Vice President of Fine Wines, Banfi Vintners Thomas D. Riegelman ’79, Vice President, Planning and Construction,
Alton Doody ’84, CEO and Chairman of the Board, Bravo Development, Yellowstone Club World
Inc. Stephen Rushmore ’67, President, HVS International
Joe Durocher, Senior Vice President and CIO, Outrigger Enterprises Ingo Schweder, Corporate Director, Mandarin Oriental Spas
Zev Eigen, Senior Labor Relations Counsel, Twentieth Century Fox Film Ariane Steinbeck ’87, Senior Vice President, The Gettys Group, Inc.
Corporation Victor Tiffany ’85, Senior Vice President, Concept Development,
Yallel Eleyssami, Vice President, Ritz Carlton Club, Marriott Vacation The Borgata
Club International Andrew Tisch ’71, Chair, Executive Committee of the Board, Loews
30 John Elieson, Vice President, Travelocity Corporation
 “The hotel business has changed.
It’s not as formal as it used to be.
I have the chance to work with
young alums to help them
achieve their goals—whether to
be GM of the St. Francis or
anything else.”

(below, left to right) William Avitia ’05,

manager, human resources; Rosalie
Cincotta ’05; and Adam Beer ’03,
front-office manager

Jon Kimball ’84
General Manager
The Westin St. Francis
San Francisco, California

“When people in San Francisco say “Meet you at the clock!” the one “It’s difficult to compare the responsibilities of opening a hotel to
they mean is the clock in the lobby of the St. Francis Hotel. trying to improve a hotel’s performance. Opening is great. You are the
“There’s so much history and tradition associated with this grand old one who puts together the first team. Leading with passion, being a
hotel,” said Jon Kimball, general manager of the 1,195-room Westin St. cheerleader, is a huge part of opening. If you don’t, then the new
Francis. product will be just another hotel and lack distinctive identity.”
Originally built in 1904, the hotel facing Union Square was the center of As managing director for Starwood’s San Francisco region, a
the city’s social and artistic life for two years—until the Great Earthquake of collection of eight hotels, including the Westin St. Francis, Kimball
1906. A year later, the hotel was rebuilt. Today cable cars stop at the front oversees and inspires the regional teams, keeping an eye on the hotels’
door, and it is a short walk to the financial district, Chinatown, and the general managers from a high level.
Moscone Convention Center. As one of the last survivors of colorful, turn-of- “Starwood is a good fit for me: It’s a young company and its
the-century San Francisco, The Westin St. Francis has a proud past. management principles are based on basic human truths . . . I like the
Hotels of this class have two important requirements, says Kimball: To pay culture. I find that I’m not micromanaging. Instead I help people they
attention to the details that guests expect, and to be creative offering hired for having strong entrepreneurial skills.”
services. A legendary old hotel, especially, has to present a lively atmosphere. The Cornell Hotel Society’s San Francisco chapter is an active one,
If it feels stuffy or dated, most people will choose a more modern one. The and Kimball and two young graduates recently hosted an alumni event.
trick is keeping it fresh while retaining its dignity and traditions. Both of them work at the St. Francis—William Avitia ’05 manages
“We try to cherish the hotel’s history and heritage while providing all the human resources and Adam Beer ’03 runs the front office.
new bells and whistles—such as high-speed Internet and the ability to do “I have tremendous contact with both of them,” Kimball said. “The
business anywhere in the hotel,” Kimball said. hotel business has changed. It’s not as formal as it used to be. I have
“With 1,000 employees I often feel as if I’m the mayor of a small city. the chance to work with young alums to help them achieve their
And like a politician, I have a constant need to be on stage,” he said. goals—whether to be GM of the St. Francis or anything else.”
Kimball’s aspiration to be on stage found an outlet at the Hotel School
during Hotel Ezra Cornell. He and his identical twin brother, Louis, were
heavily involved in the weekend in which Hotel School students take over the
hotel and stage a banquet and business conference.
“Cornell and the Hotel School were everything to us,” he said. “We had a
wonderful time. And we are both doing things we learned at Cornell.
“My brother took the more entrepreneurial route, and I took the more
corporate one, but we play off each other well,” Kimball said. “He went the
restaurant route and built eight Pluto’s restaurants in California while I’ve
been operating hotels since we left school.”
First, Kimball did a year of management training. From there he moved to
the Grand Hyatt Hotel, then the Four Seasons Cliff Hotel, and the Park Hyatt
San Francisco. Moving to Los Angeles, he was appointed hotel manager of
Westin Century Plaza Hotel and Tower. After that, Westin assigned him to its
hotel at Los Angeles Airport, which was to undergo renovation.
“Renovating a hotel is a phenomenal challenge,” he said, and so is new
construction, which was his next challenge at the Charlotte Westin.

31
 Hands-On Learning
The Hotel School’s classrooms, laboratories, offices, and instructional
centers are located in two adjoining buildings: Statler Hall, which includes
the Robert A. and Jan M. Beck Center, and its teaching hotel, the Statler
Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center.

The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality

Entrepreneurship
The Hotel School’s Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship (IHE) complements the
opportunities provided through Cornell’s Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Program
(EPE). The center supports students interested in pursuing new business opportunities both
during school and after they graduate, including industry roundtables, guest lecturers, funded
internships, a business-plan incubator, and individual advising. The center’s director advises a
student organization—Hotelie Entrepreneurs—that helps its members to identify developmental
opportunities in the hospitality industry and exercise their creativity to develop successful
enterprises. Through think tanks, guest-speaker seminars, and business competitions, their goal
is to promote entrepreneurship and creative thinking.

The Vance A. Christian Beverage Management Center

The Vance A. Christian Beverage Management Center covers everything liquid, from coffee, tea,
and sparkling water to beer, wine, and spirits. It has a tasting and demonstration room, a pantry
kitchen, a Cruvinet wine system, a wet bar, a research and reference library, and a temperature-
and light-controlled wine-storage room that holds 4,000 bottles. Included are some important vin-
tage wines—donated to the school by proud vintners and aficionados throughout the world—that
few of us will ever have in our own wine cellars. The center’s wine-tasting and demonstration
room is used for classes, industry seminars, and experiments in pairing food and wine.

The Binenkorb Computer Center

The Hotel School enjoys one of the finest computer labs on campus, the use of which is restricted
to Hotel School students. The computer center maintains and supports both instructional and stu-
dent use from 8 a.m. to midnight during the school year. The “Bin,” as it is commonly called, is
used to teach business skills and web-based computer applications. The center is equipped with the
very best in overhead-projection equipment and laser and color printers. It is staffed by a team of
professional managers and advanced students. When the “Bin” isn’t being used for instructional
purposes, students can check in and use the computers to complete homework; prepare papers,
projects, and presentations; send and receive e-mail; and surf the web. The “Bin” is a popular gath-
ering place for hotelies.

32
Nestlé Library
The School of Hotel Administration’s Nestlé Library has the largest collection of hospitality-
related materials in the United States—some 23,000 volumes and 1,000 videotapes, numerous
ephemera and memorabilia (such as photographs, menus, and rare books), and more than 800
magazine, newsletter, and newspaper subscriptions.
Materials on lodging, food service, travel and tourism, and general business topics constitute
the core of the collection. Among the library’s special features are numerous computerized infor-
mation resources, including NEXIS, Dow Jones, ABI/INFORM, and The International Hospital-
ity and Tourism Database, an extensive index to hospitality articles.
Students can use any of the other sixteen Cornell University member libraries on the Ithaca
campus. Even if a student spent all of his/her time in the facilities of the Cornell University Library
system (which no one does), he/she would not have time to peruse the 6.8 million volumes, 63,000
journals and other serial subscriptions, 90,000 sound recordings, and 7.6 million microforms.

The Center for Hospitality Research

The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) is the leading source for quality research on and for
the hospitality industry. CHR faculty fellows collaborate with industry leaders and students to de-
velop new ideas, theories, and models that improve strategic, managerial, and operating practices.
Students collaborate with faculty members in CHR research, and benefit from post-publication
exposure of research results through hundreds of media citations. The CHR also publishes the
award-winning hospitality journal, the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

The Culinary Institute of America Alliance

If you have a passion for baking, pastry, and the culinary arts, you may complement your
hospitality-management education with an intensive collaborative degree program between
the Hotel School and The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York. The
educational alliance with the CIA is designed to challenge students who want to add depth to their
culinary knowledge and skills. Hotel School students can earn their Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
degree from the Hotel School and their Associate in Occupational Studies (A.O.S.) in Culinary
Arts degree from the CIA during their four years at Cornell, something no other hospitality-
management program can boast.

Food Laboratories
The school’s two food-techniques laboratories include ten kitchen workstations with equipment as
professional as can be found in a first-class restaurant. In these labs, students can study both tech-
nical and practical subjects: not only food chemistry and microbiology, but also food preparation
from soups to desserts, and kitchen management from scheduling to quality control.
They can familiarize themselves with the latest food-production technology and explore other
aspects of the field. Most hotelies can rattle off the key ingredients and preparation directions for
the cuisine of many nations and cultures—from Tex–Mex to tandoori, kosher to creole, Szechuan
to soul food.

33
 About Ithaca
Ithaca, New York, is a small city with a big-city outlook. With about
29,000 year-round residents, Ithaca is remarkable for the diversity and eru-
dition of its population, its commitment to the arts and civic life, and the
natural beauty of its environment. Located in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, the
city is spread over rolling hills at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake and offers a pleasing study in
contrasts between pastoral countryside and urban living, well-preserved nineteenth-century build-
ings and modern amenities, tree-lined residential neighborhoods and a lively downtown, tradi-
tional sensibilities and cutting-edge experimentation.

Ithaca has much to offer in the form of entertainment and leisure activities. There are restau-
rants to suit every taste, occasion, and budget: fast food and French bistro fare, sushi and subma-
rine sandwiches, tapas and tacos, as well as Greek gyros, Middle Eastern pitas, and pizza in every
shape and size. Shoppers can choose from among the weekend farmers market on the waterfront,
specialty stores on the downtown commons, “big box” outlets in the south end of town, or the
malls in the northeast. Outdoor enthusiasts can hike miles of state and local park trails, bike the
hilly terrain, sail or paddle on the lake, and go skiing, snowboarding, and tubing at the Greek
Peak resort in nearby Virgil. Wine connoisseurs will appreciate the Finger Lakes wine trails, which
provide access to one of the great wine-making regions in the United States.
For more information about visiting and staying in Ithaca, see visitithaca.com.

Why Here?
How did such a renowned hospitality think-tank come to be part of a university of Cornell’s pres-
tige, and why did it happen here? The university was founded in 1865 by a successful inventor,
Ezra Cornell—the campus was his farm—and a scholarly patrician, Andrew Dickson White. By
1922, when the School of Home Economics in Cornell’s College of Agriculture started the first of
its kind college-level degree program in hotel management, at the request of the American Hotel
Association, the university had already developed an international reputation.
Cornell’s hospitality-management program began modestly enough, with twenty-one students
and a single professor. But it quickly established a standard for excellence in the hospitality in-
dustry. In 1948, the Statler Foundation contributed the funds to build the original Statler Hall,
which included a fifty-room inn that served as a practice-management laboratory. The university
established a full-fledged School of Hotel Administration two years later and in 1986 built the
150-room Statler Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center on the site of the
original inn.

34
Admissions
What We Consider
Your application will be reviewed by a committee of faculty members. The
committee will select those candidates judged to be best able to benefit
from our program and to add significantly to the school and the industry.
The committee looks favorably on a student with a solid academic re-
cord, good interpersonal skills, and leadership potential. A demonstrated
desire to be part of the hospitality industry is very important. In evaluat-
ing candidates, committee members consider:
• educational goals
• high-school transcript (college records, in the case of transferring students)
• Standardized Test Scores (SAT and or ACT with Writing and SAT Subject Test in
Mathematics [any level])
• work experience, especially service-industry work
• nonacademic leadership activities, hobbies, interests, and community service
• recommendations from counselors, Cornell alums, and others
• your application essay
• your personal interview

Secondary School Coursework

You must have completed a sixteen-unit secondary-school curriculum that includes four units of
English, three of mathematics, and two of science—one of which must be chemistry. (Food and
beverage–management courses cover such topics as microbiology, nutrition, food-service sanitation,
and other health-related issues that involve food chemistry.) Additional work in mathematics and
science, social studies, history, and writing is desirable. A three-year sequence in a modern foreign
language will also put you in a position to meet our second-language requirement.

Relevant Work Experience

It takes a special kind of person to become a success in hospitality. Not every-
one is cut out for it. Therefore, we recommend that you become well-acquainted
with some aspect of hospitality through service-related jobs or internships prior
to applying.
More than 80 percent of Hotel School freshmen, and all transfer students,
have relevant work experience. Some worked part-time or summers in restau-
rants, clubs, or hotels. Others worked as tour guides, helped in a hospitality-
related family business, catered events, or held another service-oriented job.
It is important for applicants to illustrate in their statement of interest, as well
as their interview, an appreciation of what it means to work in hospitality and to
be the kind of leader who is both analytical and personable.

35
 International Students
About 10 percent of the Hotel School’s undergraduates are from outside the United States. At last
count, they represented more than thirty countries. International students are especially appreci-
ated for the cultural dimension they bring to the program and are encouraged to apply.
Financial-aid resources for international students are scarce. Only a small percentage of interna-
tional students receive financial aid.

Diversity
Both Cornell University and the Hotel School are committed to recruiting, enrolling, and gradu-
ating multicultural students who will become leaders in the hospitality industry. Some 25 percent
of Hotel School undergraduates are multicultural students.
The Hotel School’s Student Services Office administers programs to assist African American,
Native American, Latino, and Asian American students. And the very active Cornell Chapter of
the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality serves as a mechanism to foster professional ad-
vancement for minorities in the hospitality industry.
For more information, please contact the Hotel School’s Multicultural Programs Coordinator,
180 Statler Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-6901; or phone 607.255.8322.

Transferring to Cornell
If you have completed at least 12 credit hours at another college or university, you are eligible to
apply to the Hotel School as a transfer student. Your prior major need not have been in hospitality
management or even a related area. It does not matter if you are applying from a two-year or a
four-year program; but if you’re attending a two-year program, you are encouraged to complete
your associate’s degree before transferring to Cornell.
Transfer students may apply for fall- or spring-term admission. The committee on admissions
applies the same standards for transfer applications as it does for freshmen (while paying special at-
tention to your college transcript). There is no absolute cumulative grade point average (GPA) cut-
off, but at least a 3.0 (out of a possible 4.0) should be your goal. You should also know that transfer
students who have been accepted over the past several years have had significant work experience
in the hospitality industry.
The question of transfer credit is often a major issue in the decision of whether to apply. The
Hotel School allows a maximum of 60 hours in transfer credit from other accredited colleges or
universities. Courses that closely parallel required Hotel School courses may be transferred, but we
want you to take your Hotel School elective courses here. (After all, one of the reasons you are
transferring is the opportunity to specialize.)
All of the distributive electives may be transferred, as may the full 21 hours of free electives. If
you haven’t completed your free or distributive requirements, you will have the opportunity to
take courses in Cornell’s six other undergraduate schools and colleges. Final transfer-credit evalua-
tions are prepared shortly after the acceptance decisions are made.

36
Application Timetables
If you are applying for freshman admission, your application materials are due
January 2. Transfer students have until March 15 to submit their materials for
fall-semester admission, and may apply for the spring semester by submitting
all materials by November 1.
If you do not have a copy of Cornell’s undergraduate viewbook, you
may request a copy by e-mail from the Undergraduate Admissions Office at
admissions.cornell.edu/.
Cornell’s policy is to accept freshmen and international students for fall-
semester admission only; transfer students may be accepted for either fall or
spring enrollment, but only those international transfer students currently
studying full-time in the U.S.A. may apply for spring enrollment.

Early Decision Contact Information

If you are applying for a position in the freshman class and Cornell is your first
Admissions Office
choice, you might want to consider an early-decision application. This means
Cornell University
you submit all your application materials early and will be notified of our de-
School of Hotel Administration
cision in the mail by mid December. If you are accepted you must withdraw
180 Statler Hall
any applications you have sent to other colleges and universities and mail to
Ithaca, NY 14853-6902
Cornell—by January 2—the acceptance deposit described in the commitment
607.255.6376
letter. If you are not accepted on an early-decision basis, your application may
E-mail: hotelschool_admissions@cornell.edu
either be denied at this point or reviewed again later with everyone else’s.
Web site: www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/admissions/

Interviews Cornell University Undergraduate

Admissions Office
In addition to the rest of your application, we require an interview—preferably
607.255.5241
on campus with a faculty or staff member—or in a major city with a graduate
E-mail: admissions@cornell.edu
of the Hotel School.
Web site: admissions.cornell.edu
An interview gives us a chance to get to know you and gives you a chance
to learn about us. We will ask about your goals and work experience and you Cornell Office of Financial Aid and
will be able to find out more about the curriculum and the rest of the school. Student Employment
If you come to Ithaca you will be able to visit with current students, tour the 607.255.5145
campus, and spend time in Statler Hall. To request an interview, log onto E-mail: finaid@cornell.edu
www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/admissions. Web site: finaid.cornell.edu

Cornell International Students and

Financial Aid Scholars Office
To apply for financial assistance, fill out the Cornell financial aid application, Cornell University
a PROFILE packet from the College Scholarship Service, and the Free Appli- B50 Caldwell Hall
cation for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). PROFILE data are used to determine Ithaca, NY 14853-2602
your eligibility for Cornell aid, and to estimate your eligibility for federal aid. 607.255.5243
Registration materials are available at your high school guidance office and Web site: www.isso.cornell.edu/
should be filed during the fall semester of your senior year.
For more information about financing a Cornell education, contact the Cornell Information and Referral Center
Office of Financial Aid and Student Employment, phone 607.255.5145; or Cornell University
visit finaid.cornell.edu. Main Lobby, Day Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-2801
607.254.4636
E-mail: info@cornell.edu
Web site: civr.cornell.edu

37
Is the Hotel School for You?
Many bright, motivated students believe that the college experience will give them direction, and
they do not think seriously about a career before choosing a college.
Students who come to the Cornell Hotel School are a little different. They are comfortable about
being more focused at an earlier age. They know that the hospitality industry offers a wide array of
professional choices. And, over the course of four years, they develop an understanding of which of
those options are most interesting to them.

Think for a moment about who you are. Do these attributes describe you?
Are you ambitious and, at the same time, humble? Are you someone who:
• Likes being a leader
• Enjoys helping others
• Likes to dream BIG
Are you creative, visionary, and also a strategic thinker?
• Always thinking about how to improve things
• Willing to change some of the rules that others seem to simply follow
• Focused on what needs to be done to achieve goals
And are you a natural organizer? Someone who:
• Likes to make decisions and see things done right
• Remains so personable and positive that people like to put you in charge of projects and teams
• Likes taking charge and being boss, but gives the team recognition
Are you globally oriented? Do you:
• Enjoy travel and meeting people with other cultures
• Relish adventure
• Feel stimulated by the prospect of international career options
Are you action-oriented? Someone who:
• Seeks a career that will not isolate you in a cubicle
• Prefers a career that offers many options and a variety of job responsibilities
• Enjoys an atmosphere where change and creative improvement are encouraged
Finally, are you confident and full of energy? Do you:
• Expect to be successful, and are you willing to work for success
• Want a fast-track career where you are in charge at a young age
• Have an inner belief that your destiny is to be a leader in your field
• Have a sense of humor and a dramatic flair
If you answered most of these
questions with a Yes, then consider
the Cornell Hotel School.
(Left to right, top to bottom)
Students: Avery Cooper ’11, Amanda
Warnick ’08, Charlotte Vincent ‘09,
Diego Sosa ’10, Molly Southern ’09,
Justin Grimes ’09, Sameer Nair ’11,
Justin Sun ’08, Daly Guillermo ’10,
Cailen Casey ’10, Antoine Wilson ’09,
Tessa Crompton ’08, Cathy Popp ‘10

Faculty members: Associate Professor

Jordan Le Bel, Assistant Professor Kate
Walsh, Professor Michael Lynn,
Assistant Professor Robert Kwortnik,
Associate Professor Daphne Jameson,
Lecturer Preston Clark, Assistant
Professor Erica Wagner, Professor
Daniel Quan, Lecturer Amy Newman,
Associate Professor Mary Tabacchi, 39
Senior Lecturer Giuseppe Pezzotti
 Cornell University has an enduring commitment to support equality of education and
employment opportunity by affirming the value of diversity and by promoting an environment
free from discrimination. Association with Cornell, either as a student, faculty, or staff member,
involves participation in a free community where all people are recognized and rewarded on the
basis of individual performance rather than personal convictions, appearance, preferences
(including sexual or affectional orientation), or happenstance of birth. Cornell University’s history
of diversity and inclusion encourages all students, faculty, and staff to support a diverse and
inclusive university in which to work, study, teach, research, and serve. No person shall be denied
admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any
legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed,
religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age,
disability, or veteran status. Cornell University is an affirmative action, equal opportunity
employer. Concerns and complaints related to equal opportunity in education and in employment
based on aspects of diversity protected under federal, state, and local law, including sexual
harassment complaints filed by any member of the Cornell community against an academic or
non-academic staff member, as well as complaints arising under Title IX, should be directed to
the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity, and Life Quality, 160 Day Hall, Ithaca, NY
14853-2081 (telephone: 607-255-3976, fascimile: 607-255-7481, telecommunications device for
the deaf: 607-255-7066, e-mail: equalopportunity@cornell.edu). Cornell University is committed
to assisting those persons with disabilities who have special needs related to their educational
pursuit or employment. Information on services provided to prospective and current Cornell
students with disabilities can be obtained by contacting the Student Disability Services Office,
429 Computing and Information Center, Ithaca, NY 14853-2081 (telephone: 607-254-4545,
fascimile: 607-255-1562, telecommunications device for the deaf: 607-255-7665, website: www.
clt.cornell.edu). Prospective and current employees in need of a workplace accommodation
pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act or New York State law should contact Workers
Compensation and Disability Services, Surge 3 Facility, Ithaca, NY 14853 (telephone:
607-255-3708, fascimile: 607-255-9649, telecommunications device for the deaf: 607-255-7066).

Photographs by Robert Barker, Lindsay France, and Jason Koski, Cornell University Photography. Additional
photography: Page 3, top, page 8, left, Shai Eynav, shaiphoto.com; page 11, Chris Pizzello; page 18, Michael
Fraker; page 32, bottom right, Charles Harrington Photography.
Printed on recycled paper.
Printed by Brodock Press, Utica, N.Y.
Brodock Press is a FSC Certified Printer.
Brodock Press has completed a “Green Supplier Network Assessment” through
Mohawk Valley Applied Technology Corporation.
Produced by the School of Hotel Administration and the Office of Publications and Marketing at
Cornell University.
Coordinator: Neoma Mullens ’98
Writers: Carole Stone, Roger Segelken, Metta Winter
Editor: Peter Hoover
Designer: Lorraine Heasley
7/08 21M 070379
40
hotelschool.cornell.edu
Cornell University
School of Hotel Administration
Admissions Office
180 Statler Hall
Ithaca, New York 14853-6902

hotelschool.cornell.edu