Jay Treadwell ‘61
Jay Treadwell ‘61, retired Principal of The Optimum Group, shares with us what it means to him to be a Hotelie for Life®.
“When I graduated from the Hotel School in 1961, I figured I was “finished” with going to school. I joined the Navy and was sent to the west coast to run an Officers Club. For a long time, I seemed to “absent” the Hotel School and Cornell from my life.
I moved to Washington D.C. to take over the operation of the U.S. Senate foodservice operation in 1975. My involvement since then has been uninterrupted and fulfilling, to include my wife, Peggy, and I made a sizable endowment for Hotel School students to study abroad, as hospitality is a global industry. The students who vied for and won this opportunity are just spectacular. We have always been proud to make this possible for Hotelies.
My involvement since then has been uninterrupted and fulfilling, to include my wife, Peggy, and I made a sizable endowment for Hotel School students to study abroad, as hospitality is a global industry. The students who vied for and won this opportunity are just spectacular. We have always been proud to make this possible for Hotelies.
After a meaningful and rewarding career in foodservice executive leadership and later, consulting, I had to retire in 2016 when I contracted a rare form of brain cancer, but miraculously have kept the brain and liver tumors under control. I give faith and friends the credit for that, for which I thank both equally. Among those friends are my fellow Hotelies for LIFE.”
Jay is pictured here on his 80th birthday with his wonderful wife, Peggy. Also pictured are Jay and Peggy flaked by fellow Hotelies at the CHS European Regional Meeting.
My involvement since then has been uninterrupted and fulfilling, to include my wife, Peggy, and I made a sizable endowment for Hotel School students to study abroad, as hospitality is a global industry. The students who vied for and won this opportunity are just spectacular. We have always been proud to make this possible for Hotelies.
After a meaningful and rewarding career in foodservice executive leadership and later, consulting, I had to retire in 2016 when I contracted a rare form of brain cancer, but miraculously have kept the brain and liver tumors under control. I give faith and friends the credit for that, for which I thank both equally. Among those friends are my fellow Hotelies for LIFE.”
Jay is pictured here on his 80th birthday with his wonderful wife, Peggy. Also pictured are Jay and Peggy flaked by fellow Hotelies at the CHS European Regional Meeting.
I called the Hotel School alumni office for a reference, and was hired. It then dawned on me that there was a lot of value in becoming a “Hotelie for Life”. I became an assistant to the Mid- Atlantic regional director (Jill Feinstein), ran the big Bermuda conference with Dean Robert Beck and others, became CHS regional director, and later the 2nd Vice President of CHS global.
My involvement since then has been uninterrupted and fulfilling, to include my wife, Peggy, and I made a sizable endowment for Hotel School students to study abroad, as hospitality is a global industry. The students who vied for and won this opportunity are just spectacular. We have always been proud to make this possible for Hotelies.
After a meaningful and rewarding career in foodservice executive leadership and later, consulting, I had to retire in 2016 when I contracted a rare form of brain cancer, but miraculously have kept the brain and liver tumors under control. I give faith and friends the credit for that, for which I thank both equally. Among those friends are my fellow Hotelies for LIFE.”
Jay is pictured here on his 80th birthday with his wonderful wife, Peggy. Also pictured are Jay and Peggy flaked by fellow Hotelies at the CHS European Regional Meeting.
