UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — 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.
“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 the 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.
For more information about the school, contact Ben Jellison, director of industry and alumni relations, at bdj101@psu.edu or 814-865-6728.