News for the Hospitality Executive |
Nick and Vicki Massad Gift $1.5
million to Conrad N. Hilton College
at University of Houston
.
Gift to Greatly Enhance College�s
Library and Hospitality Industry Archives
HOUSTON, September 26, 2007� The
Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University
of Houston has announced the receipt of the largest gift ever presented
to the college from a source other than the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Nick and Vicki Massad of Houston-based American Liberty Hospitality have presented the college with a $1.5 million gift that will significantly enhance the college�s Library and Hospitality Industry Archives. Upon completion in August 2008, the 4,000-square-foot facility will be named the Massad Family Library and Hospitality Industry Archives at the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. Ironically, it was a $1.5 million donation from
Conrad N. Hilton which opened the school in 1969.
�The college changed my life,� says Nick Massad, a 1973 graduate who first learned of the college while working as a bellman at a Howard Johnson hotel in Arlington. �When I graduated, I always said that one day I would give something back.� Besides providing a venue for students to study, conduct research and network, the renovated facilities are expected to house personal and corporate archives from some of the hotel and restaurant industry�s most influential names. These include Conrad Hilton of Hilton Hotels, Holiday Inns founder Kemmons Wilson, Colonel Harlan Sanders, Four Seasons Hotels chairman Isadore Sharp and Michael Rose, past chairman of Gaylord Entertainment. �No other facility in the world will house the research and archival resources dedicated exclusively to the hospitality industry,� says Dean John Bowen. �It will be a gold mine of information for students and scholars of the industry as well as an important student and faculty recruiting tool.� According to Bowen, the college will consult with students and hold focus groups to develop the facility�s design and functionality. Construction is expected to begin in May 2008. The Massad family�s donation continues the college�s recent fundraising successes. Along with the family�s contribution, the college will receive $560,000 in matching funds from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and $350,000 from the University of Houston for the project. In 2006 and 2007, the college accepted 29 new endowments while 63 percent of its donors from the past year were either new donors or ones who had not donated recently. �The excellent leadership provided by Dean Bowen and Director of Development Jon Schultz has created great momentum at the college,� says Massad. �Hopefully our donation will spur other alumni to lend their support.� All five members of the Massad family are alumni of the Conrad N. Hilton College. The family also established a Massad Family Endowed Scholarship in 2004. Today, Nick Massad is President of American Liberty Hospitality which develops, owns and operates an extensive portfolio of hotels throughout the southwest. Vicki Massad serves as the company�s Senior Vice President. Other prominent graduates of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Houston include Douglas Brooks, chairman of Brinker International; Bill Fortier, Senior Vice President with Hilton Hotels Corporation; Todd Diener, president of Chili�s; and top executives with Marriott Hotels, Outback Steakhouse, Four Seasons Hotels and Sysco Corporation. For more information on the Conrad N. Hilton College
of Hotel and Restaurant Management, visit our website at:
About the University of Houston
For more information about UH visit the university�s Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom |
Contact:
Debbie Maurer
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