Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 2004

Contact: Eric Gerber
713.743.8189 (office)
713.617.7130(pager)
egerber@uh.edu

HOUSTON, Oct. 12, 2004 – The man who introduced America to Steak & Ale, Bennigan’s and Macaroni Grill is being inducted into the Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor.

Norman Brinker, chairman emeritus of Brinker International, joins four other honorees being recognized this year by the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management. The college’s Hospitality Industry Hall of Honor will also be welcoming John Q. Hammons and Roy Winegardner, who joined forces in an influential partnership that operates more than 100 properties under the Embassy Suites, Renaissance, Marriott, Radisson, Sheraton and Holiday Inn brands; Michael Leven, a veteran executive of the lodging industry who has served as president and COO of Holiday Inns and is currently leading a group that includes Microtel, Hawthorn and Best Inns & Suites; and Michael Rose, chairman of Gaylord Entertainment.

The five hospitality leaders will be formally inducted during a dinner ceremony at the college Oct. 13.
Jacki Kelley, senior vice president of USA Today, and Joe McInerney, president and CEO of American Hotel & Lodging Association, will serve as masters of ceremonies.

The Hall of Honor for the hotel, restaurant, and hospitality industry was begun in 1995. The hall’s Board of Overseers, which includes the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the National Restaurant Association, the Travel Industry Association of America and the International Hotel and Restaurant Association, selects new inductees each year. Permanent displays in the Hall of Honor, the Leaders Gallery, and the Hospitality Industry Archives memorialize the inductees' achievements and provides a lasting tribute to the companies they conceived and built during their lifetime.

Previous inductees include Walt Disney, Col. Harland Sanders, Howard Johnson, and Ray Kroc.

About the University of Houston

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