Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary
The Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, part of the SC Johnson College of Business at Cornell University, announced a yearlong celebration to commemorate its 100th anniversary.
“Over the course of a century, Cornell’s modest experiment in collegiate training for hoteliers has undergone continuous transformation to become what is far and away the world’s preeminent hospitality business school,” said Nolan Dean Kate Walsh. “Our tremendous success is a result of a strong and innovative vision to develop service-minded leaders, a world-class faculty of industry thought-leaders and caring teachers, a dedicated and passionate community of alumni who pay it forward, and a relationship-driven, experiential educational model that brings our faculty and alumni together to prepare, launch, and hire our industry’s future leaders.”
With the opening of classes on Sept. 20, 1922, the school began with courses in nutrition and textiles for 20 students. The program’s original 11 transfer students graduated in 1925; the first four-year class followed in 1926. And from there, the program developed a flourishing tradition of sending its graduates on to create and run businesses in all aspects of hospitality, including institutional investing, real estate, ownership, private equity, global brands, food and beverage, online travel, and data analytics.
Notable alumni currently leading the industry today include Marriott CEO Tony Capuano ’87, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts CEO Keith Barr ’92, Hilton CFO and global president Kevin Jacobs ’94, and CEO of Blau + Associates and notable restaurateur-developer Elizabeth Blau, MS ’97. (Blau will be honored at the Cornell Hospitality Icon and Innovator Awards gala on June 7, 2022, in New York City with the school’s Cornell Hospitality Innovator Award.)
With such a long and admirable history, Hospitality Technology reached out to the school for a professor’s take on how technology and its role within the hotel industry has evolved since 1922. Professor Chris Anderson was kind enough to provide the below response.
“Hospitality technology has evolved considerably during the last 100 years – in-room telephones were first available in the 1890s, by 1910 electricity was widely available in hotels with the first in-room radios available in the late 1920s. The 40s and 50s saw increasing prevalence of in-room televisions. Obviously since then the level of amenities and service has continued to increase.
“The other aspect of technology is the pre-stay element - as the 40s and 50s saw the first launch of reservation systems along with airline GDS launch in the 60s. Change was expedited in the 90s as Online Travel Agents started to get a foothold with half of all hotel reservations booked online in the 2010s. Along with changes in how people booked, also came changes in how we researched and discovered travel - aided by the launch of TripAdvisor in 2000.
“Lying between the guest facing and guest booking technology has also been a considerable amount of change as the first point of sale system (POS) was launched in 70s, followed by property management systems (PMS) in the 80s.
“While I am not a futurist, the future for hotel technology is very near with changed expedited by the coronavirus. The near future is all about customization as consumers can expect to receive customized service, prices, and offerings all in the near (now) future. This customization though will require major changes to all of the above-mentioned technology forms as in order for the guest to book a specific room (e.g. 301) with a unique check-in and -out time, equipped with desired amenities and bedding at a custom-specific price requires major changes in how customers discover and book capacity along with how properties manage and deliver great service/experiences to meet these unique expectations."