2025 Hall of Fame Inductees
It give us great pleasure to announce the Cornell Hotelie Hall of Fame, Class of 2025 Inductees and Rising Star recipients.
In celebration of HEC100, the Nomination/Selection Committee has selected our honorees this year from Hotelies who served on their respective HEC Boards. The selection criteria of contributions to industry, community, and Cornell remained the same.
The honorees for the Class of 2025 are:
- Joseph Binns ’28, Assistant Manager HEC 3
- Mary R. Wright ’45, Auditor-Comptroller HEC 19, Publicity Director HEC 20
- Richard W. Brown ‘49, Assistant Manager HEC 23
- Richard Ferris ’62, Maitre D’hotel HEC 36, Managing Director HEC 37
- John Sharpe ’65, Personnel Director HEC 40
- Ed Evans ’74, Engineering Director HEC 49
- Richard D. Adie ’75, Director of Front Office Operations HEC 49, External Marketing Director HEC 50
- Bill Minnock ’79, Controller HEC 54
- Walter L. Isenberg, ’80, Food and Beverage Director HEC 55
- Keith Barr ’92, Executive Chef HEC 66
- Abigail (Spencer) Charpentier ’95, Human Resources Director HEC 69, Managing Director HEC 70
- Deniz Omurgonulsen ’00, Human Resources Director HEC 74, Managing Director HEC 75
- Stephen P. Weisz ’72, (2024 Hall of Fame Inductee, will be honored this year)
Rising Star
- Rani Bernstein ’19, Human Resource Director HEC 94
Congratulations to all the honorees. A recognition well earned.
Mission
The mission of the Cornell Hotelie Hall of Fame is to:
- Celebrate Cornell Hotelie successes
- Create a library of inspirational stories for applicants, students, faculty, and alumni
- Bring together an annual reunion of Hotelies to share the fellowship of Hotelie for Life
- Fortify the School’s brand in the industry by featuring Hotelie successes
Nomination & Selection Process
The Nomination & Selection Committee selects the inductees each year and is comprised of members from different generations, geographic regions, and segments of the industry.
The committee members are as follows:
- Deniz Omurgonulsen, ‘00 (Nomination Chair)
- Rocco Angelo, ‘58
- Jan DeRoos, ‘78
- Court Williams ’78
- Ted Teng ‘79 (Hotelie Hall of Fame Chair)
- Christopher Hunsberger ’81
- Ginny Mariani-Kitt, ‘82
- Elizabeth Schaefer ’84
- Catalina Ganis ’85
- Regan Taikitsadaporn, ‘93
- Vernetta Kinchen ’95
- Kristin Sander Urhammer, ‘99
- Rohan Gopaldas, ‘02
- Sarah Perkins-Latimer ’05
The criteria used for nomination & selection of inductees are:
- Contribution to the hospitality industry
- Contribution to the community
- Contribution to the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration
- Hotelies that served on HEC Boards (this year’s class)
For the 2025 class, the committee reviewed nominations using our current list of over 100 potential inductees organized by the committee. New candidates were added by the committee members as well as suggested by CHS members. If you would like to suggest a nomination, please feel free to email Deniz or Ted using our criteria above.
