The committee has chosen a very special inaugural class of 17 inductees representing the breadth of Hotelie successes over the past 100 years. The Hall of Fame inductees are:
• Dean Howard B. Meek (Founding Dean and Inaugural Inductee) – “Our Founding Father, A Determined Visionary”
• H. Victor Grohmann ‘28 – “Creator and Promoter of The Wonderful World of Hospitality Marketing and Education”
• E. Truman Wright ‘34 – “The Beloved Hotelier of The Greenbrier, America’s Resort”
• Dean Robert A. Beck ‘42 – “The Pioneering Commander Who Led Students in Ithaca to Hotelies of The World”
• Joseph H. Baum ‘43 – “Culinary Showman and Ringmaster”
• Margaret “Maggie” McCaffrey Kappa ‘44 – “Keeping The Best Home for All Her Guests”
• Lilyan H. Affinito ‘53 – “Trailblazer in Her Professional Life and Service to Cornell”
• Rocco M. Angelo ‘58 – “The Longest Serving Hospitality Educator and Mentor”
• Charles F. “Chuck” Feeney ‘56 – “First Among Doing the Greatest Good”
• Vance A. Christian ‘61 – “The Legend of Hospitality Spirits”
• William V. “Bill” Eaton ‘61 – “Designing the Great Hospitality of Life”
• Roberto E. Wirth ‘75 – “Making You Feel at Home at the Palazzo of Rome”
• Drew Nieporent ‘77 – “Ambassador of Hospitality”
• Philippus “Phil” Miller III ‘83 – “You Need to Meet”
• Giuseppe Pezzotti ‘84 – “Patron Saint of Service”
• Liv Gussing Burgess ‘91 – “Leading the Globe Around Luxury Hospitality”
• Ben Justus ‘08 – “Providing Service through Service”
The Rising Star Award recognizes early Hotelie successes and this year the award goes to:
• Rob Karp ‘19 – “Starting in high school, parlayed a passion into a customer acquisition strategy by developing expertise in an uncontested space”