S. Kirk Kinsell MPS ’80 has been chosen as the recipient of the 2011 MMH Outstanding Alumnus of the Year Award, presented by the Masters of Management in Hospitality (MMH) program. He will receive the award at the tenth annual MMH Reception on Sunday, November 13, in New York City. The reception venue will be announced soon.
“This is exciting and unexpected news. I am very pleased and, at the same time, extremely humbled,” said Kinsell.
The award committee selected Kinsell after evaluating MMH and MPS (Masters of Professional Studies) graduates on a range of criteria, including academic performance and school involvement as a student; career progression since graduation; and continued engagement with the school and its students, alumni, and faculty. Kinsell was a speaker in the 2010 Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series and was a recent Dean’s Leadership Series panelist. He is also a member of the advisory board for the Center for Hospitality Research.
“Kirk was chosen from a very competitive field of leaders in the industry. It will be an honor for the school to recognize him as the 2011 MMH Outstanding Alumnus of the Year,” said Michael D. Johnson, dean and E. M. Statler Professor of Hotel Administration.
Kinsell has 16 years of experience as a senior leader at IHG. He is currently responsible for the management, growth, and profitability of the company’s largest operating region, spanning the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He oversees a portfolio of more than 3,400 hotels and resorts under all seven IHG brands. From September 2007 to June 2011, he was president, Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), with responsibility for 700 hotels consisting of over 121,000 rooms. Prior to that, he was senior vice president and chief development officer for IHG in the Americas. In 2003, he co-led the launch of Hotel Indigo.
In addition to his Cornell degree, Kinsell holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, San Diego, and he completed the Senior Executive Programme at London Business School.