The School’s strong network of graduates is exemplified by the impressive representation of industry talent on our Alumni Association Executive and Appointed Boards. These board members demonstrate unwavering support for The School and its students, “giving back” through their time, energy and enthusiasm to ensure continued excellence. Our students benefit from this strong industry support and connectivity thanks to the dedication and loyalty of these hospitality executives.
The Executive Board of Directors, consisting entirely of alumni, oversees the activities of the Alumni Association. The Appointed Board of Directors consists of graduates and non-graduates from all segments of leadership within the hospitality industry, who act as a group of advocates for The School and its mission. The Alumni Association Board fulfills its mission in a number of ways that benefit The School as well as sponsors several events:
Each year, the Alumni Association also recognizes:
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Curtis Lease (BA ’91)
Regional Vice President | Dining Services | American Dining Creations
PRESIDENT
Gary Hernbroth (BA ’79)
Chief Motivating Officer, Training for Winners
Rose Spickler (BA ’12)
Director of Statewide Engagement, West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum and Adjunct Faculty Member, Baker College, Culinary Institute of Michigan
Paul Finstad (BA ’13)
Vice President of Hotel Acquisitions & Asset Management, Aparium Hotel Group
David DuBois (BA ’78)
President & Chief Executive Officer, International Association of Exhibitions & Events
Matthew D. Anderson (BA ’09)
Chief Executive Officer, Leadership Coaching for Results
James F. Anhut (MBA ’85)
Director, Real Estate Minor, The School of Hospitality Business
Carol L. Campbell (BA ’98)
Head of Consumer Experience, Ascension
Brian DeMeester (BA ’98)
Executive Housekeeper at FireKeepers Casino Hotel
Hans Desai (BA ’79)
Retired, Leisure Travel, Xanterra Parks & Resorts
Chris Durso (BA ’82)
Distinguished Alumnus
Gary Finnell (BA ’79)
Senior Director Development – SE Region, Hilton
Martha Zehnder Kaczynski (BA ’03)
Vice President, Bavarian Inn Lodge
Erik Liedholm (BA ’93)
Partner/Owner, John Howie Restaurants and Wildwood Spirits Company
Bob Pierce (BA ’83)
Retired, Marriott International
Grant Sabroff (BA ’84)
Senior Vice President, Business Development, Concord Hospitality Enterprises Company
Houston Striggow (BA ’75)
Chief Development Officer, SusieCakes Bakeries
Jeffrey D. Anderson (BA ’90)
Club Manager, The Chicago Club – Charlevioux
James E. Burba (BA ’77)
Retired, Burba Hotel Network
Bradley N. Cance (BA ’89)
General Manager, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Washington, DC
John Flood (BA ’80)
Founder & Managing Director, elevate
Jeremy J. Mourey (BA ’00)
Hospitality Executive
Mark C. Auerbach (BA ’65)
President, Auerbach Hotel Associates
Neil F. Barnhart (BA ’64, MBA ’65)
Retired
John Belden (BA ’85)
President & Chief Executive Officer, Davidson Hospitality Group
Kevin J. Brown (BA ’77)
President & Chief Executive Officer, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc.
Ronald F. Cichy (BA ’72, MBA ’77)
Professor Emeritus, The School of Hospitality Business
Richard C. Conti (MBA ’76)
Senior Managing Director, The Plasencia Group
Jay Dee Cutting (BA ’61)
Retired
Philip J. Hickey, Jr. (BA ’77)
Chairman, Miller’s Ale House Restaurants
Kenneth D. Hill (BA ’56)
Retired
Jon Kennedy (BA ’73)
Senior Vice President, Grandstay Hospitality
John M. O’Donnell (BA ’69)
General Manager & Chief Operating Officer, St. Clair Golf Club
Zoe P. Slagle (BA ’59, MA ’64)
Retired
Lou Weckstein (BA ’58)
Retired
Peter J. Weien (BA ’81)
Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Opryland Entertainment
Robert A. Wills (BA ’70)
Retired
Stu Wolff (BA ’82)
Business Coach, Wolff Leadership
Dan E. Burdakin (BA ’81)
Retired
Chuck Day (BA ’91)
Regional Director, Revenue Services, InterContinental Hotels Group
Billy Downs (BA ’88)
Owner, Downs Management and Ford’s Garage Michigan
Richard Farrar (BA ’73)
Principal, The Farrar Consulting Group
Michael H. Getto (BA ’56)
Retired
Marc J. Gordon (MBA ’73)
Retired
John P. Hawes (BA ’73)
Senior Partner, LucasGroup
Allegra Johnson (BA ’91)
Managing Director, Club Management Association of America, Georgia Chapter
James Kauffman (BA ’75)
Retired
J. Bruce Lange (BA ’78)
Retired
Dan H. Mathews, Jr. (BA ’66)
Retired
Jerry A. McVety (BA ’67)
President, McVety & Associates, LLC
Michael W. Murray (BA ’81)
Chief Operating Officer, HHM
Mary Ann Ramsey (BA ’75)
Owner & President, Betty Maclean Travel, Inc.
Mike Rice (BA ’91)
Business Development Director, Hotel Contracting Services, Inc.
Susan K. Smith (BA ’59)
President, Food Technologies, Inc.
John Theuer (BA ’83, MBA ’83)
Chief Financial Officer, Eureka Restaurant Group
Ken Weber (BA ’77)
President, Weber’s Hotel & Restaurant
Terri Woodin (BA ’88)
Mountain Vacation Consultant, Rocky Mountain Getaways
William A. Zehnder (BA ’71)
President, Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Restaurant
Autumn Mellino (BA ’25)
Chief Executive Officer, Destination Auction
Tyler Dahms (BA ’24)
Chief Executive Officer, Hospitality Association
Andre Alexandre (BA ’00)
Vice President, Business Development, NEXDINE Hospitality
Ross D. Bartlett (BA ’10)
Regional General Manager, AHC Hospitality
Dan Briks (BA ’04)
General Manager, Martinique NY on Broadway
Richard A. Bruner (MLRHR ’77)
Professor of Practice, The School of Hospitality Business
Marc L. Cassier, Jr. (BA ’89)
Corporate Head of Catering & Events, HILTON – Americas Managed Hotels
RJ Cutting
Vice President, Fidelity National Title Company
Art Davis (BA ’88)
Director of Finance, The Drake Chicago
Jesse Eisenhuth (BA ’00)
Customer Development Specialist, Gordon Food Service
Jeffrey R. Gillett (BA ’86)
Executive Vice President, The Elliot Group
John C. Guy (BA ’80)
General Manager, Skokie Country Club
Jennifer Hajduk (BA ’98)
Complex Director of Catering & Events, Hilton (O’Hare & Rosemont)
Joel A. Halperin (BA ’07)
Director of Operations, Heirloom Hospitality Group
Lori Haughey (BA ’88)
Vice President of Operations, Intelligentsia Coffee
Jason Hilliard (BA ’95)
District Manager, Aramark Business Dining
Aaron Ide (BA ’98)
General Manager, The Thompson Hotel – Dallas
Lauren Johnson (BA ’19)
Travel Industry & Entertainment Sales Manager, Four Seasons Hotel – Boston
Lauren Jones (BA ’10)
Employee Experience Manager, Rush University Medical Center
Kevin S. Kennebeck (BA ’88)
General Manager, Ruth Lake Country Club
Andrew J. Kern
Senior Managing Director, Investments, Marcus & Millichap
Alyssa Kidd (BA ’13)
Vice President, Eastdil Secured
Nadia Kilgore (BA ’11)
Office Administrator, GGV Capital
Kevin Koons (BA ’05)
Senior Vice President, US Operations, Wingstop Restaurants, Inc.
Caitlyn Kuskowski (BA ’16)
Health & Hospitality Business Entrepreneur
Stephen E. LaHaie (MBA ’77)
Retired, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc.
Kurt Lefler (BA ’88)
District General Manager, Compass Group
Emily MacIntyre (BA ’10)
Director of Sales, Graduate Hotel – East Lansing
Shelley MacMillan (BA ’73)
Silver Maples of Chelsea
John G. Malone (BA ’82)
Area Director – Franchise Services, Choice Hotels International
Jackie Collens Mamorsky (BA ’07)
Director of Sales & Marketing, The St. Regis Hotel
Kevin Maul (BA ’96)
Regional Director – Revenue Strategy, Aimbridge Hospitality
James McHenry (BA ’14)
Director, Sales, Widgeteer, Inc.
Russ Melaragni (BA ’79)
President, The Melaragni Consulting Group, Inc.
Michael Moriarty (BA ’11)
Senior Vice President, Eastdil Secured
Jake Olsman (BA ’08)
Real Estate Services Solutions Company
Kit Pappas (BA ’82)
Tavistock
John W. Pharr (BA ’69)
President, Strand Development Company
Jason C. Rabidoux (BA ’04)
Vice President of Business Development, Davidson Hospitality Group
Nate Redner (BA ’12)
Divisional Sommelier, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc.
Andrea Rodriquez (BA ’04)
Event Logistics Manager, LinkedIn
Geoff Ryskamp (BA ’06)
Global Head of Hospitality, Medallia
Rob Sadoff (BA ’00)
Principal, Scarlett Hotel Group
Ben Schwartz (BA ’72)
President, Harper Associates
Keith H. Shopnick (BA ’98)
Vice President, Operations, Highgate Hotels
Joseph Shurmur (BA ’90)
Vice President of Operations, Greenwood Hospitality
Joshua Smith (BA ’00)
Senior Vice President, HREC Investment Advisors
Katie Smith (BA ’16)
Advocacy Programming Manager, Team Enterprises | Bacardi
Matthew A. Sparks (BA ’84)
Executive Vice President & Chief Development Officer, Hilton Vacations
Scott Steilen (BA ’91)
President & Chief Executive Officer, The Sea Island Company
Kevin Swanquist (BA ’08)
Executive Recruiter, Harper Associates
Christopher Tatum (BA ’81)
General Manager, Westin/Aloft at San Francisco Airport
Steven B. Thompson (BA ’87)
Director of Catering, Waldorf Astoria Hotel – Chicago
Mike Tueros (BA ’97)
Director of Meeting & Event Management, Westin Kierland Resort & Spa
Ken Wasco (BA ’76)
Retired, Gordon Food Service
Blair Wills (BA ’02)
President & Chief Executive Officer, StepStone Hospitality
Mary Winslow (BA ’91)
Chief Marketing Officer, Luckie & Company
Kurt B. Wisniewski (BA ’94)
Senior Director, Business Development, SAMBAZON
Philip Zeller (BA ’96)
Owner & Chief Executive Officer, Dale Carnegie Training by Ralph Nichols Group, Inc.
This award is presented each year at the Homecoming board meeting. The criteria are:
2022 Staff Member of the Year
Allyson Griffith
2020 Faculty Member of the Year
Carl P. Borchgrevink
2019 Faculty/Staff Member of the Year
Not Awarded
2018 Staff Member of the Year
Jeff Yingling
2017 Faculty Member of the Year
Jeff Elsworth
2016 Staff Member of the Year
Chris Moening
2015 Faculty Member of the Year
Ronald F. Cichy
2014 Staff Member of the Year
James F. Rainey
2013 Faculty Member of the Year
Michael Kasavana
2012 Staff Member of the Year
Lois Schroeder
2011 Faculty Member of the Year
Bonnie Knutson
2010 Staff Member of the Year
Jamie Lyon
2009 Faculty Member of the Year
Raymond Schmidgall
2008 Staff Member of the Year
Lena Loeffler
2007 Faculty Member of the Year
A.J. Singh
2006 Staff Member of the Year
Authella Collins Hawks