ORLANDO, FL (November 13, 2023) – Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ President and Chief Operating Officer Harris Rosen (Cornell University ’61) is an honoree of the 2023 Cornell Hotelie Hall of Fame class. The prestigious honor is bestowed upon alumni of the School of Hotel Administration who have distinguished themselves as industry leaders – or as this year’s class is titled – “Game Changers.”
As a grandson of immigrants and growing up in New York’s Lower East Side, Harris Rosen still finds it hard to believe all the success his life has led him to.
“I close my eyes, and I wonder if it is all a dream,” said Harris Rosen. “From where I grew up to where we are today with Cornell as the college I graduated from. I think it would be fair to say only in America is that possible. Cornell had the courage to accept me. To this day, I have no idea why or how. But of course, I will be eternally grateful.”
Aside from building one of the largest independently owned, award-winning hotel groups, Harris Rosen is a legendary philanthropist and pioneer in the education and healthcare field. Rosen’s passion for helping those in need led him to establish two free preschool programs for two-, three- and four-year-olds in underserved communities of Central Florida. The programs also provide the students with the scholarships to attend any public college or university in Florida or a vocational school of their choice following high school graduation, setting them up to graduate debt-free. Additionally, Rosen has also been a longtime supporter of University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, a top-rated hospitality college in the nation and ranked second in the world.
After seeing the rising costs of healthcare, Rosen decided to take matters into his own hands and establish an in-house medical program that allows his hotel associates to receive the personalized care they deserved. Rosen’s forward-thinking led him to open the state-of-the-art Rosen Medical Center, which offers top-tier affordable healthcare and preventative services. This is just one of the numerous initiatives Rosen has put into place to take care of his associates and their communities.
“Harris epitomizes this year’s class of Hotelie Game Changers,” said Ted Teng ’79, Chair, Cornell Hotelie Hall of Fame Committee, Cornell Hotel Society. “He not only changed the game in the hospitality industry, but he also did that in education and healthcare as well.”
The 2023 class was honored during the Hotelie Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Sunday, November 12th in New York, New York.
For more information about Harris Rosen or Rosen Hotels & Resorts, please contact Rob Hubler, public relations manager, at 407-996-7656 or publicrelations@rosenhotels.com or visit us at www.rosenhotels.com.
