Our vision

To be the hospitality industry’s preeminent hub for entrepreneurship, advancing students and industry leaders through engagement, experiential learning, and education.

Our mission

The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship engages leading industry experts and faculty to educate students and provide them with experiential and innovative opportunities to learn all aspects of entrepreneurship.

Students

PIHE is the hub for Cornell students interested in hospitality entrepreneurship who have access to several experiential courses and competitions designed to educate through real-world scenarios such as creating a pitchdeck or a business plan. The courses provide students with an analytical framework for pursuing an entrepreneurial venture, while the competitions serve as a vessel for students to incubate and test their ideas.

Additionally, PIHE hosts an Entrepreneur in Residence program where hospitality entrepreneurs visit campus and work, one-on-one, with students and a luncheon series where students dine with hospitality entrepreneurs and develop the knowledge, networking skills, and practical experience necessary to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions.

Professionals

PIHE is the thought leader for alumni and others who operate, or are interested in operating, an enterprise in the hospitality industry. The institute joins faculty and industry through an annual series of sector specific roundtable discussions where participants share knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurship and innovation in the hospitality industry. Also, PIHE works with the Nolan School’s Center for Hospitality Research to regularly publish articles
relevant to hospitality entrepreneurship.

Along with its directors, assistant director, and affiliated faculty, PIHE’s Advisory Board members offer vital counsel and help direct and operationalize the Institute’s philosophy and activities.

Director: Christina McDowell, Senior Lecturer; Faculty Accreditation Director
Assistant Director: Michelle Mahool