In an announcement coinciding with ongoing classes in the summer 1998 Hotel School executive program attended by hundreds of managers from around the globe, Dean David A. Dittman said, �This endowment will enhance our ability to reach out to hospitality professionals worldwide and deliver the quality educational support they will need throughout their careers in what will be the fastest-growing industry in the 21st century.  We are proud to honor this occasion by declaring that henceforth, our flagship executive education program will be known as the Anheuser-Busch Professional Development Program.�

Dr. David Butler, Associate Dean for Executive Education, hailed the endowment as �an ideal blending of the resources of a global corporation and those of a global university to the greater benefit of the hospitality industry as a whole.�  Pointing to the demands of an industry experiencing dynamic growth and development, Butler added, �This gift will enable us to keep a critical step ahead in formulating state-of-the-art classes that anticipate evolving industry needs, and in attracting teachers with vision, insight and the ability to stimulate inquiring minds to achieve their creative best.�

Established in 1928, the Professional Development Program is the hospitality industry�s oldest and most comprehensive executive education program.  Tailored to hospitality managers at the supervisory through executive levels, the program offers 60 one-week courses covering general and strategic management; food, beverage, and restaurant management; managerial accounting and finance; marketing; operations management and information technology; property asset management and real estate; and rooms management.  Each year, the program serves approximately 700 managers from 90 nations.

Dean Dittman announced that the endowment will also fund a new undergraduate elective course dedicated to the study of beer and its marketing and management in hotels and restaurants.  The Anheuser-Busch Seminar in Quality Brewing and Fine Beer will be open to upper-level students pursuing careers in food and beverage management.  Lecture topics will include brewing, taste and aesthetics, purchasing, marketing, staff training, and legal issues.  The course will complement the Hotel School�s existing repertoire of wine and spirits management courses, which emphasize professionalism and social responsibility.

�The serving of �fruits of the grain� is no less a factor in hospitality � as an art and a business � that that of fruits of the vine, or of distilled spirits,� Dittman said.  �And it warrants a similar appreciation of culturally astute marketing and socially enlightened management practice.  We are committed to providing such instruction in keeping with the Cornell traditions of not merely following, but setting the example, and not merely meeting, but setting the standard.  In this effort, too, we are extremely pleased with Anheuser-Busch Foundation�s support, and we look forward to working with them.�

�We are pleased to offer our support to the Cornell Hotel School,� said John E. Jocob, Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., and chairman of the contributions committee.  �As the world�s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch appreciates the importance of serving the global marketplace; after all, making friends is our business.  We are committed to demonstrating leadership in that area through this endowment which will help educate the future hospitality marketing and management leaders of the world.�

Since its inception in 1922, the Cornell Hotel School has been recognized by industry leaders and educators worldwide as the preeminent educational institute of hospitality management.  Cornell boast the largest faculty of any hospitality school in the world, as well as the largest teaching hotel, the largest hospitality library, the most extensive programs of executive education, and one of the world�s most sophisticated alumni networks, the Cornell Society of Hotelmen.  The Hotel School is one of the most selective colleges in America and is the only professional hospitality program in the Ivy League.

Anheuser-Busch and its charitable foundation donate funds to hundreds of charitable organizations each year.  Through the company�s corporate contributions program, donations are provided to a broad range of local nonprofit organization, including colleges and universities, health care institutions, social service agencies, civic organization, and arts and cultural groups.