The Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, part of the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, announced a yearlong celebration to commemorate its 100th anniversary. The year will kick off at Nolan’s 97th-annual Hotel Ezra Cornell, the school’s student-run conference and hospitality event, which will be held April 21-24, 2022. A series of other celebratory events will take place throughout the year.
“Over the course of a century, Cornell’s modest experiment in collegiate training for hoteliers has undergone continuous transformation to become what is far and away the world’s preeminent hospitality business school,” said Nolan Dean Kate Walsh. “Our tremendous success is a result of a strong and innovative vision to develop service-minded leaders, a world-class faculty of industry thought-leaders and caring teachers, a dedicated and passionate community of alumni who pay it forward, and a relationship-driven, experiential educational model that brings our faculty and alumni together to prepare, launch, and hire our industry’s future leaders.”
With the opening of classes on September 20, 1922, the school began with courses in nutrition and textiles for 20 students. The program’s original 11 transfer students graduated in 1925; the first four-year class followed in 1926. And from there, the program developed a tradition of sending its graduates on to create and run businesses in all aspects of hospitality, including institutional investing, real estate, ownership, private equity, global brands, food and beverage, online travel, and data analytics.
Looking ahead to the next century, Walsh will prioritize initiatives such as tuition affordability, innovation, and curriculum development, as well as deepening the school’s connections with alumni and industry leaders. As part of this plan, Walsh’s goal is to build from all of the resources across the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and Cornell University to ensure that the Nolan School continues to strengthen its position as an educator in the global hospitality and services sectors.
“Our partnership with the SC Johnson College of Business only expands our opportunities for trailblazing research, incredible course offerings, and continued focus on and impact for tomorrow’s global hospitality industry,” she said.
“We look forward to another 100 years of continued, thoughtful growth and abundant opportunities for our students, alumni, faculty, staff, and for the active engagement with our valued hospitality industry partners,” said Andrew Karolyi, dean of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.
