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University
Park, PA – December 2023 / NewsmakerAlert: The Penn
State Hotel & Restaurant Society (PSHRS) and the School
of Hospitality Management will honor Jim
Risoleo, president and CEO of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc., and Ted
Balestreri, chairman and CEO of Cannery Row Co. and chairman, CEO and
co-founder of Sardine Factory Restaurant, at the 2024
PSHRS Industry Awards and Reception. The event will take place at 4:30
p.m. on April 2, 2024, at the school’s Marriott Foundation Building among
alumni, faculty, industry partners and students.
Risoleo will receive the
society’s Hospitality Executive of the Year Award and Balestreri will receive
the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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L-to-R: Jim Risoleo and
Ted Balestreri
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“We are pleased to add the
names of Jim Risoleo and Ted Balestreri to the pantheon of those who have
had a tremendous impact and raised the bar for our students and alumni
both in corporate leadership and entrepreneurialism,” said Tom
Neely, president of PSHRS and president and CEO of Thomas E. Strauss
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
“Both Jim and Ted epitomize
American hospitality business success through unique histories and a shared
pathway that is lined with a passion for excellence and for others,” said
Donna Quadri-Felitti, Marvin Ashner Endowed Director of the School of Hospitality
Management. “They consistently advocate for the opportunities our industry
provides and contribute enormously to their communities, which inspires
our thriving alumni, our hardworking students and everyone with whom they
work.”
About Jim Risoleo
Risoleo, president and CEO
of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc., the world’s largest lodging real estate
investment trust, has been named 2024 Hospitality Executive of the Year.
Host is an S&P 500 company and is one of the largest owners of luxury
and upper-upscale hotels, partnering with premium brands and leading management
companies to manage its portfolio of hotels.
“I am delighted and honored
to receive this award from PSHRS and to be recognized by one of the oldest,
most respected and top programs of its kind,” Risoleo said. “Providing
leadership and supporting the development, advancement and educational
opportunities for our future hospitality leaders is essential, and we all
share this responsibility to give back to our industry.”
With over 35 years of extensive
finance and real estate experience, including more than 27 years at Host,
Risoleo has served in numerous roles of increasing responsibility. He led
acquisitions and investments and built and ran an international business
unit spanning the United States and Europe before he became president and
CEO in 2016.
Prior to Host, Risoleo was
vice president of development at Interstate Hotels Corp. and senior vice
president of commercial real estate at Westinghouse Electric Corp. In addition,
he currently serves as an executive committee member of the American Hotel
& Lodging Association, a member of the U.S. Travel Association CEO
Roundtable, and a member of the Real Estate Roundtable. Past appointments
have included independent chair of Cole Office and Industrial REIT and
an independent director of Griffin Realty Trust.
Risoleo graduated from Duquesne
University School of Business with a bachelor’s degree and from Duquesne
University School of Law with a juris doctor degree. He holds bar admissions
to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and United States District Court for
the Western District of Pennsylvania.
About Ted Balestreri
Balestreri is chairman and
CEO of the Cannery Row Co. and chairman, CEO and co-founder of the Sardine
Factory Restaurant, for which he formed a partnership in 1968. He also
founded Pacific Hospitality, which was incorporated from 1983-2007 and
held the franchise rights for Wendy’s International, covering a tri-county
area in northern California.
“I am delighted and honored
to accept this award from the Penn State School of Hospitality Management
and its distinguished alumni society, PSHRS,” Balestreri said. “Penn State’s
program has long established itself as an American leader in graduating
exceptional hospitality talent, including my longtime friends Walter J.
Conti, Biff Naylor and Ralph Evans, along with Bill Kohl and Hugh Roth,
among many others. What makes this Lifetime Achievement Award a double
honor is to be receiving it alongside my friend, Jim Risoleo, as he is
recognized as the Penn State Hospitality Executive of the Year in 2024.”
Balestreri has served as
a member of the World Travel & Tourism Council since July 1997 and
was appointed as California delegate to the White House Conference on Travel
and Tourism in February 1995. California Gov. Pete Wilson appointed Balestreri
to serve on the California Italian-American Task Force in December 1996,
and Monterey City Council appointed him to the Citizens’ Advisory Committee
for the Economic Element to the City’s General Plan and Economic Strategy
Planning in January 1993. In 1985, Balestreri was appointed by Gov. George
Deukmejian to serve as commissioner on the California Travel and Tourism
Commission and served through 2007.
Balestreri also served as
past president of the National Restaurant Association from 1985-86 and
the California Restaurant Association from 1983-84. He was chairman on
the board of the Int’l Gold & Silver Plate Society from 1992-93, was
chairman of Distinguished Restaurants of North America from 1992-94, and
received an honorary doctor of business administration degree in hospitality
management from Johnson and Wales University in 1987.
In addition, Balestreri serves
on the board of trustees for the Robert Louis Stevenson School, Community
Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, and the Panetta Institute of Public
Policy. He also is a major contributor to numerous scholarships and educational
foundations.
About The Penn State Hotel
& Restaurant Society
The Penn
State Hotel & Restaurant Society was founded to strengthen all
hospitality professions and enhance the reputation of the Hospitality Management
program (HM). PSHRS is an Alumni Group of the Penn State Alumni Association
and the College of Health and Human Development Alumni Society.
PSHRS provides a means for
achieving closer fellowship among alumni, faculty and students. PSHRS serves
those who are currently attending Penn State in HM or who are graduates
of the program, as well as those who work within the HM industries and
have attended Penn State or are “friends” of the program.
About Penn State’s School
of Hospitality Management
Established in 1937, Penn
State’s School of Hospitality Management is one of the nation’s earliest
and most respected schools of hospitality management. Its top-ranked undergraduate
and doctoral programs prepare global leaders with a rigorous, diverse curriculum
focused, since its inception, on engaged scholarship, featuring partnerships
with Penn State’s Hospitality Services, Housing and Food Services, and
top global hospitality brands. It’s also home to the oldest Penn State
alumni program group, the Penn State Hotel & Restaurant Society.
For 87 years, the Penn State
School of Hospitality Management has provided outstanding leadership for
a global and dynamic hospitality industry, offering innovative programs,
research and service to the profession alongside world-class faculty, staff
and students. The school inspires all students to pursue excellence in
scholarship, exhibit a strong work ethic, and become successful and ethical
hospitality leaders.
Contact:
Ben
Jellison
Director (Industry &
Alumni Relations)
814-865-6728 |
