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Vice President Managed Development South Central Region; Becka Chester Named Vice President of Interior Design |
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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., September 30,
2004 � Ronald Y. Kim has been named vice president managed development
of the South Central Region (which includes states in the southwestern
and southeastern part of the United States) and Becka Chester has been
named vice president of interior design for Hilton Hotels Corporation.
In his new role, Ronald Kim will be responsible for growing Hilton full-service hotels in this region primarily through management contracts. He will continue to be based in Beverly Hills and will report to Ted Middleton, senior vice president, finance and development of the company. Kim joined Hilton in 2000 as director, project finance with responsibility for overall procurement of debt and equity capital for owned and managed full-service hotels. He began his career at Arthur Andersen LLP as a senior auditor of their Real Estate Group in 1992 where he earned his CPA. In 1995, Kim joined Lend Lease (formerly The Yarmouth Group) as an associate for the Lodging & Leisure Group. From 1998 - 2000, he was the senior financial analyst at Arden Realty, Inc., before coming to Hilton Hotels Corporation. Kim most recently served as vice president, project finance for the company. A native of California, Kim earned a bachelor of arts degree in business economics from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. Joining Hilton Hotels Corporation as vice president of interior design, Becka Chester will have responsibility for all aspects of interior design development and approvals for new projects and renovations in all owned and managed hotels, including the Hilton Grand Vacations Club projects, and her role will expand into design activities in all Hilton Family brands. She will be based in Beverly Hills and will report to Vladimir Sanda, vice president of architecture and design. Chester began her career at Design One in 1980 as a project manager and draftsman and was instrumental in helping the firm break into the hospitality market. In 1990, she spearheaded award-winning projects with Disney Development, and in 1992 became managing director of Design One�s Hong Kong office, where she worked on large scale projects, including Shangri-La Hotel Group�s Trader�s Hotel in China. In 1996, she joined SFA Design and continued to focus on hospitality projects as vice president of the hospitality division. Her responsibilities covered numerous successful hotel and timeshare projects, including Hilton Grand Vacations Club Kalia Tower at the Hilton Hawaiian Village; the Hilton Club at the Hilton New York; Les Saisons in Sun Valley, Idaho; Disney�s Old Key West and Disney�s Beach Club Villas at Lake Buena Vista, Florida; The Residences at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and a number of other projects. A native of California, Chester studied at the University of California � Santa Cruz and California State University � Long Beach. Hilton Hotels Corporation is recognized internationally as a preeminent hospitality company. The company develops, owns, manages or franchises 2,200 hotels, resorts and vacation ownership properties. |
Contact:
Kathy Shepard Vice President - Corporate Communications Hilton Hotels Corporation (310) 205-7676 phone [email protected] |