Presenting 2024 Hotelie Hall of Fame Story - Robert M. Chase, Engr ’59, MBA ’61

Published on September 3, 2024

An excerpt from Bob's story...

Robert M. Chase, Engr ’59, MBA ’61, known affectionately as Bob, Prof., Dad, Dandy, and Bob the Letterman, was memorable for his storytelling, but his contributions to the Cornell School of Hotel Administration extend far beyond the fond memories of his engaging lecture style. His legacy is one of innovation, dedication, and an unyielding commitment to advancing hospitality education.

In 1964, Chase attended a workshop in Endicott, New York, offered by International Business Machines (IBM). While playing a “management game,” he had an epiphany, seeing the potential of “discovery learning” for teaching hotel business concepts through self-guided discovery.

More than a decade before Microsoft was founded, Robert Chase drafted a plan to incorporate computers into hospitality education...

. ..

more >>

Other news

Presenting 2024 Hotelie Hall of Fame Story - James H. “Bud” Ward, ‘52

September 3, 2024
An excerpt from Bud's story...In 1952, James H. “Bud” Ward became the first African American to graduate from the Cornell Hotel School. Ward remembers being called into Dean Meek’s office early in his first semester. Meek congratulated Ward on his accomplishments, and then asked him what he planned to do when he graduated.“Dean Meek seemed to be fully aware and honestly concerned that Negroes were

Presenting 2024 Hotelie Hall of Fame Story - Sonnie T.W. Lien ‘68

September 3, 2024
An excerpt from Sonnie's story...Sonnie Tiong Wah Lien was born in 1934, one of nine siblings in pre-independence Malaysian Singapore.Due to the Second World War, Sonnie attended boarding schools in the People’s Republic of China, Penang, and later, Singapore.Sonnie’s career in hospitality started in London when he determined that he could not take the sight of blood which scuppered his ambition t