The University of New Hampshire Hospitality Management Program celebrated its 90th Anniversary Sept. 15th at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston. As part of the celebration, it presented its Life Time Achievement Award to alumna Lynne Dougherty ’78, who had a successful and impactful career with Starwood Hotels and Resorts. The event was attended by 115 alumni, industry professionals and guests who reconnected and reminisced about their time at UNH.
UNH’s Hospitality Management Program is the second-oldest four-year degree program in the country. Students study and work using state-of-the art technology and facilities.
The program was recently ranked No. 26 in the U.S. as one of the best hospitality management programs and No. 2 in New England; it is part of the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics, which is ranked among the nation’s top 100 best undergraduate business school and No. 38 for public business schools in the U.S.
“I am very pleased that our Hospitality Management Program also has been ranked for the first time among the top 30 Hospitality Management programs in the country by The Best Schools,” said Deborah Merrill-Sand, dean of Paul College. “The criteria for ranking are metric driven and based on program quality, courses offered, faculty strength, the quality of business education, internship opportunities, graduate degrees, and mentoring and career opportunities, among others.”
The lodging industry has been influenced over the past 90 years by financial crises, including the great depression and recession, the oil crisis of the 1970’s, social unrest, and the fast pace in which technology changes.
“For the industry to survive, a shift past segmentation to radical personalization is needed, becoming ‘real-time innovation laboratories,’ altering future strategies, business and service models, and organizational approach toward innovation,” said Nelson A. Barber, chair of the Hospitality Management Program.
Addressing these challenges, the program educates talented and well-trained industry professionals through relevant curriculum, industry partnerships providing cutting edge technology in the classroom, industry certifications such as CHIA, and student mentoring and career counseling.
The program is designed for graduates to develop into senior executives 15 to 20 years from graduation. This success is exemplified by industry leaders such as life time achievement award winners Lloyd Farwell ’48, James Nassikas ’52, and recently, Lynne Dougherty ‘78.
“It takes real drive, passion, innovation, and leadership to make an impact. That is why Lynne was selected for this prestigious award,” said Barber.
Dougherty started her career at Sheraton Corporation as a corporate management trainee. She quickly moved into operations, eventually serving as general manager at several properties. Dougherty then moved into various corporate roles at Starwood, most recently as senior vice president, owner services and franchised and managed administration, where she managed communication and strategic alignment for owner and management company relationships for 550 properties representing 10 Starwood brands. To learn more about the UNH Hospitality Management program, visit:
https://paulcollege.unh.edu/hospitality-management.
