Feature: MSU Hospitality Around the Globe

MSU alumni from The School of Hospitality Business continue to set benchmarks of success throughout the world. It was Walt Disney's dream, but it took an MSU alumnus to help create hotel lodging for one of the world's most popular vacation meccas. More than 25 years ago, Orlando's Disney World sprang from swampland and Florida coastline to become an attraction of global proportions. Today, it's one of the tourism industry's most identifiable benchmarks for success. Dan Darrow, MBA '61, an exemplar product of The School of Hospitality Business, had more than a little to do with that success. He was recruited to help launch the Orlando mega-resort by Disney executives, who frequented a Caribbean hotel that he was managing and saw his ability first hand.

Darrow, chairman of the board of The School of Hospitality Business Alumni Association, credits his MSU experience for much of his success. 'It puts you on a business track, and the hospitality industry today is very much a business,' he says. 'It's the ability to satisfy the guest and do it profitably--those are techniques you learn in our School.'

You can find stories like Darrow's by the thousands. In 70 years, The School of Hospitality Business has become one of the industry's most recognized powerhouses of educational leadership. Its graduates--nearly 8,000 in 50 states and 30 foreign countries--have led some of the world's most important lodging and food industry institutions. Their marks--hence MSU's imprint--form part of an evolving $4-trillion-a-year global industry. MSU alumni can be found among the top brass of the world's finest hotels, restaurants, clubs and gaming venues.

In 1995, The School launched a campaign to recognize its luminaries with The School's Alumni Association's Wall of Fame. Since then, 24 leaders have been inducted into the Wall of Fame. Consider hotel industry movers and shakers such as alumnus:

• Jerry Best, '59, who served as president/CEO of Omni Hotels North America
• Robert Burns, '58, former president of Regent International Hotels, Hong Kong
• Donald Jankura, '51, owner of the Waverly Hospitality Associates and past chairman of the American Hotel and Motel Association
• David Kenney, '57, owner of Kenney Enterprises and also past chairman of the American Hotel and Motel Association
• Carl Mottek, '51, retired president of Hilton Hotels Division
• William Tiefel, '56, president of Marriott Lodging.
• Frank Arthur Banks, '61, MBA '62, general manager of the RIHGA Royal Hotel in New York City
• John Brogan, '55, senior vice president of ITT Sheraton Corporation, North America Division and president of Sheraton Hotels in Hawaii
• Richard Helfer, '72, president/CEO of Raffles International Limited
• Bernard Seiler, MBA '73, retired proprietor and president of the Seiler Hotel Neues Schloss in Zurich, Switzerland.

Acclaimed restaurateurs with MSU ties include:

• Herman Berghoff, '58, owner of Berghoff Restaurant in Chicago; Kenneth Hill, '56, member of the Board of Directors for Applebee's International, Inc.
• Michael Hurst, '53, owner of 15th Street Fisheries and a past president of the National Restaurant Association
• Angelos Vlahakis, '51, former owner of Jim's Tiffany Restaurant and founder of The School's Student and Industry Resource Center.

Entrepreneurs and club operators among alumni ranks include:

• Robert Johnson, '74, president of ClubCorp International
• Dr. Lewis Minor, '39, Ph.D. '64, founder, L.J. Minor Corporation
• Richard Cregar, '58, founder of Cregar Enterprises in Rochester, MI
• Ernest Renaud, '57, founder of Ernie Renaud Associates of Lexington, KY.

Starting out in 1927 as a single 'hotel course,' The School has clearly adapted and grown. Located in The Eli Broad College of Business for the past 50 years, its link to a business-based education has put it head and shoulders above the 150 other four-year and 700 two-year hospitality schools in the U.S. Besides offering a four-year bachelor's degree requiring 800 hours of paid internships, there are two master's programs--the Master of Business Administration degree and the Michael L. Minor Master of Science degree in Foodservice Management.

It's more than a footnote to The School's history that it was industry-driven from the start, says Dr. Ronald F. Cichy, '72, MBA '77, The School's director since 1988. The School was launched by the urging of the Michigan Hotel Association, which helped create its curriculum and steer its future course. Career professionals remain actively involved in The School's programming today, contributing as members of its Alumni Executive Board and Board of Directors and as guest lecturers. Dozens take time off from their professional obligations to teach via the Visiting Leaders Series and the Distinguished Chefs Series. 'It's hard to imagine an area of the hospitality industry that doesn't have an MSU graduate in its upper ranks today or in its history,' says Cichy. 'This School's growth has paralleled the industry's since the start.'

The School has continued to reinvent itself in the past 70 years, he adds, noting its milestone birthday. In recent years, The School has streamlined its name to sharpen its image, added a second master's program to its curriculum, and benefited from the addition of $7 million in endowments in the past eight years. 'We're 70 years old, but really we're 70 years young,' says Cichy. 'The next 70 years have so much potential.'

The School's alumni have distinguished themselves and earned world-wide reputations not only as builders of leading hospitality corporations, but as entrepreneurs making regional marks in the industries and important educators. Most attribute their personal success to the dual nature of their MSU education, one that teams a driving work ethic with a spirit for community and professional responsibility. Darrow, for one, has served as a role model in those regards. He has had numerous managerial positions since joining Walt Disney in 1970. Today, he is president of Palm Hospitality Company, a Walt Disney Company subsidiary. And as one of the first graduates to emerge from The School's early MBA program in 1961, he is The School's alumni association chairman of the board and top booster.

Cichy says Darrow is one of the most influential professionals in the hospitality business today. 'He has an exemplary reputation that's widely known,' Cichy notes. 'He was also one of the first professionally trained managers out of the Sheraton Hotel management program. Then, before joining Disney in 1970, he had a long career in the Caribbean, running resort hotels. Dan knows 50 percent of the people in the hotel business around the world, and the other 50 percent know him.' 

A frequent campus visitor, Darrow appreciates The School for its influence on his life. 'We can't forget our educational roots which give us the opportunity to do what what we've done today,' he explains. 'This School puts you on a business track, and hospitality business today is very much a business. It isn't a science or an art, it really is a business. The ability to satisfy the guest and do it in a method that will bring profitability, those are the techniques you learn in this business school. The beauty of the MSU graduates of this School is a diversified managerial style that lends itself to all aspects of hospitality industry,' he continues. 'These graduates don't just work in hotels, they're not just in restaurants, they might be in club management, airlines, travel agencies, gaming or entertainment. These alumni really have a desire to succeed and a tremendous commitment to community, a dedicated work ethic. And their time has come.'