Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management Announces 2010 Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor Inductees
Doug Brooks, chairman, president and CEO of Brinker International, which operates restaurant brands Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, and Joseph A. McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), will join some of hospitality’s biggest icons and industry giants in the Hospitality Hall of Honor at the annual induction ceremony to be held October 13 in the Conrad N. Hilton Ballroom at the Hilton University of Houston.
Houston, TX, August 19, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Two hospitality-industry visionaries, including the head of one of the world’s most popular casual-dining companies and the president of the lodging industry’s largest trade association, are this year’s inductees into the prestigious Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor housed at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston.
Doug Brooks, chairman, president and CEO of Brinker International, which operates restaurant brands Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, and Joseph A. McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), will join some of hospitality’s biggest icons and industry giants in the Hospitality Hall of Honor at the annual induction ceremony to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct.13, in the Conrad N. Hilton Ballroom at the Hilton University of Houston.
“These inductees are two excellent leaders and are highly deserving of this recognition,” said John Bowen, dean of Hilton College. “Doug Brooks expanded Brinker International and continues to preserve the positive culture within the company first established by company namesake Norman Brinker. And Joe McInerney took a struggling AH&LA and turned it into an effective and efficient organization that is a real asset to America’s lodging industry, not to mention the rest of his outstanding career in the hotel industry that spans decades.”
Brooks, president of Brinker International since 1999 and CEO and chairman since 2004, is the first Hilton College alumnus to be inducted into the Hall of Honor. He first joined Chili’s in 1978 and rose through the ranks as general manager, area director and vice president of the brand prior to being promoted to the parent company. Under Brooks’ leadership, Brinker International, which owns, operates and franchises more than 1,500 restaurants in 30 countries and two territories, has been named as one of FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Most Admired Food Service Companies, Top Companies for Women and Top 30 Companies for Minorities, among other honors. Brooks won the Nation’s Restaurant News Golden Chain Award in 2003 and the Workforce Legacy Award from the People Report in 2009.
Brooks said he is excited to be the first alumnus inducted into the Hall of Honor and honored to share the distinction with his mentor, Norman Brinker, who was inducted in 2004.
“To be included on that list of the most successful and influential leaders in this industry is incredibly humbling,” Brooks said. “It’s an impressive list of people. I’m amazed to be in the company of this industry’s geniuses and to follow in Norman Brinker’s footsteps—I honor and thank him for any recognition I receive.”
McInerney, CEO and president of AH&LA since 2001, has nearly 50 years of experience in hospitality, including serving as president and CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Forte Hotels, Inc., Hawthorn Suites and ITT’s Sheraton franchise division. After joining AH&LA, McInerney reorganized the association to streamline efficiency and strengthen core operations. Under McInerney’s direction, AH&LA has increased membership and improved its effectiveness as an advocacy organization on behalf of the lodging industry. He also has served as a member of the Board of Overseers for the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor.
McInerney has won numerous industry awards, including the 2009 J. Patrick Leahy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, the 2007 Above and Beyond Award at The Lodging Conference and the Silver Plate Lifetime Achievement Award from Hospitality magazine.
“It’s a tremendous honor and something I greatly appreciate,” McInerney said of his upcoming induction into the Hall of Honor. “I am truly humbled because of all the great people who have been recognized in past years. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish at AH&LA and grateful for this tribute.”
Established in 1995, the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor recognizes industry leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to American and international business and society. The inductees’ achievements are now memorialized in commissioned portraits in the new Hall of Honor Gallery in the newly renovated Hilton University of Houston’s lobby, and in the new Massad Family Library Research Center and Hospitality Industry Archives, which contains archival documents and memorabilia from the companies the inductees conceived and built.
A Board of Overseers, which includes representatives from the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Travel Industry Association of America, the International Hotel and Restaurant Association and the American Gaming Association, nominate and elect each year’s Hall of Honor inductees.
The inaugural Hospitality Hall of Honor class of 1996 included four inductees—J. W. Marriott, Conrad N. Hilton, Vernon Stouffer and Kemmons Wilson. Since then, nearly 60 industry luminaries, including Ray Kroc, Howard Johnson, Ernest and Julio Gallo, Walt Disney and Conrad Hilton’s sons, Barron and Eric Hilton, have joined them.
The 15th annual Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor festivities on Oct. 13 will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony and dinner at 7 p.m. Think Tank sessions with industry leaders, who will discuss a number of current hospitality topics, will be held October 12 and 13. For more information on Hall of Honor events, or for ticket information, contact Camille Kapoor at 713-743-2462 or ckapoor@uh.edu. For more information about the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor visit www.hrm.uh.edu/hhoh.
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Doug Brooks, chairman, president and CEO of Brinker International, which operates restaurant brands Chili’s Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy, and Joseph A. McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), will join some of hospitality’s biggest icons and industry giants in the Hospitality Hall of Honor at the annual induction ceremony to be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct.13, in the Conrad N. Hilton Ballroom at the Hilton University of Houston.
“These inductees are two excellent leaders and are highly deserving of this recognition,” said John Bowen, dean of Hilton College. “Doug Brooks expanded Brinker International and continues to preserve the positive culture within the company first established by company namesake Norman Brinker. And Joe McInerney took a struggling AH&LA and turned it into an effective and efficient organization that is a real asset to America’s lodging industry, not to mention the rest of his outstanding career in the hotel industry that spans decades.”
Brooks, president of Brinker International since 1999 and CEO and chairman since 2004, is the first Hilton College alumnus to be inducted into the Hall of Honor. He first joined Chili’s in 1978 and rose through the ranks as general manager, area director and vice president of the brand prior to being promoted to the parent company. Under Brooks’ leadership, Brinker International, which owns, operates and franchises more than 1,500 restaurants in 30 countries and two territories, has been named as one of FORTUNE magazine’s World’s Most Admired Food Service Companies, Top Companies for Women and Top 30 Companies for Minorities, among other honors. Brooks won the Nation’s Restaurant News Golden Chain Award in 2003 and the Workforce Legacy Award from the People Report in 2009.
Brooks said he is excited to be the first alumnus inducted into the Hall of Honor and honored to share the distinction with his mentor, Norman Brinker, who was inducted in 2004.
“To be included on that list of the most successful and influential leaders in this industry is incredibly humbling,” Brooks said. “It’s an impressive list of people. I’m amazed to be in the company of this industry’s geniuses and to follow in Norman Brinker’s footsteps—I honor and thank him for any recognition I receive.”
McInerney, CEO and president of AH&LA since 2001, has nearly 50 years of experience in hospitality, including serving as president and CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Forte Hotels, Inc., Hawthorn Suites and ITT’s Sheraton franchise division. After joining AH&LA, McInerney reorganized the association to streamline efficiency and strengthen core operations. Under McInerney’s direction, AH&LA has increased membership and improved its effectiveness as an advocacy organization on behalf of the lodging industry. He also has served as a member of the Board of Overseers for the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor.
McInerney has won numerous industry awards, including the 2009 J. Patrick Leahy Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, the 2007 Above and Beyond Award at The Lodging Conference and the Silver Plate Lifetime Achievement Award from Hospitality magazine.
“It’s a tremendous honor and something I greatly appreciate,” McInerney said of his upcoming induction into the Hall of Honor. “I am truly humbled because of all the great people who have been recognized in past years. I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish at AH&LA and grateful for this tribute.”
Established in 1995, the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor recognizes industry leaders who have made extraordinary contributions to American and international business and society. The inductees’ achievements are now memorialized in commissioned portraits in the new Hall of Honor Gallery in the newly renovated Hilton University of Houston’s lobby, and in the new Massad Family Library Research Center and Hospitality Industry Archives, which contains archival documents and memorabilia from the companies the inductees conceived and built.
A Board of Overseers, which includes representatives from the National Restaurant Association, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Travel Industry Association of America, the International Hotel and Restaurant Association and the American Gaming Association, nominate and elect each year’s Hall of Honor inductees.
The inaugural Hospitality Hall of Honor class of 1996 included four inductees—J. W. Marriott, Conrad N. Hilton, Vernon Stouffer and Kemmons Wilson. Since then, nearly 60 industry luminaries, including Ray Kroc, Howard Johnson, Ernest and Julio Gallo, Walt Disney and Conrad Hilton’s sons, Barron and Eric Hilton, have joined them.
The 15th annual Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor festivities on Oct. 13 will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by the ceremony and dinner at 7 p.m. Think Tank sessions with industry leaders, who will discuss a number of current hospitality topics, will be held October 12 and 13. For more information on Hall of Honor events, or for ticket information, contact Camille Kapoor at 713-743-2462 or ckapoor@uh.edu. For more information about the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor visit www.hrm.uh.edu/hhoh.
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Contact
Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management
Anna Drake
713-784-1077
www.hrm.uh.edu
Anna Drake
713-784-1077
www.hrm.uh.edu
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