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Sellout Crowd Attends Second Annual Cornell Icon of the Industry Awards Dinner

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Officials of Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration today announced a sellout crowd of 830 invitees attended the second annual Cornell Icon of the Industry Awards Dinner. The 2010 event honored the Cornell Icon of the Industry, Class of 1956 alumnus Chuck Feeney, co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers and founding chairman of The Atlantic Philanthropies. In addition, Solomon Kerzner, founder, CEO, and chairman of the board of Kerzner International, received the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship's 2010 Hospitality Innovator Award. The event raised funds for the school's scholarships and programs.

"We could not be more thrilled with the turnout for this year's Cornell Icon of the Industry Awards Dinner," said Michael Johnson, Dean and E.M. Statler Professor, School of Hotel Administration. "This truly is a testament to our two extraordinary honorees, as well as the resiliency of the hospitality/travel community as a whole." The annual awards dinner brought together some of the world's most influential hospitality and travel leaders in support of Cornell School of Hotel Administration scholarships and programs. The event was held at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC.

J.W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, Inc., and inaugural winner of the Icon Award, along with the school's dean and E. M. Statler Professor, Michael Johnson, co-presented the Icon Award to Feeney. Feeney was presented the award for the indelible mark he has left on the hospitality industry, as well as the charitable impact of The Atlantic Philanthropies, of which is he is the founding chairman. The organization has given away more than $5 billion, now focusing primarily on aging, children & youth, population health, and reconciliation & human rights. It will become one of the largest foundations in history to spend down their endowment and close its doors by 2016.

Solomon Kerzner received the Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship's 2010 Hospitality Innovator Award for his visionary work redefining the scope and scale of destination resort/casino development and operations throughout much of the world. With a career spanning more than four decades, he founded both of South Africa's largest hotel groups, played a pivotal role in the development of tourism industries in Mauritius and the Bahamas, and continues to develop industry leading projects in unique destinations throughout the world. He also manages six of the top-rated luxury resort properties in the world under his One&Only brand in the Bahamas, Mexico, Mauritius, the Maldives, Dubai, and South Africa.

Jonathan Tisch co-presented, also with Michael Johnson, the Hospitality Innovator Award to Kerzner.

Save the date for next year's Cornell Icon of the Industry Awards Dinner on June 7, 2011. To learn more about it, interested parties should contact Rachel Ash, manager of corporate & foundation affairs, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, at rep6@cornell.edu. For additional information, please go to the event's official website: www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/industry/events/awardsdinner.html.

    Contact:     Jerry Daly, Chris Daly
                 Daly Gray Public Relations
                 (703) 435-6293

SOURCE Cornell University School of Hotel Administration