Directors’ Welcome

Welcome to the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship (PIHE), the entrepreneurial hub of the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. In our role as directors, we steward the institute and execute the vision of our founders, Lee ’69 and Mary Pillsbury and our Advisory Board and serve as an integral component of Cornell’s tradition as an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.

PIHE has three missions tethered to the common goal of incubating and promoting entrepreneurial excellence in the hospitality industry. As an educational institute, our first mission is to guide and inspire the innovators of tomorrow, our students. Additionally, PIHE is a community where our board, our students and other hospitality entrepreneurs collaborate and innovate. Third, our faculty and staff consistently confront questions at the forefront of the hospitality industry and develop new theories regarding the path to entrepreneurial success.

Our programming is the conduit through which PIHE accomplishes its missions.  Our Entrepreneurs in Residence program brings successful entrepreneurs from across the country to Ithaca to work with our student entrepreneurs.  Additionally, PIHE offers three annual hospitality entrepreneurship competitions including a hackathon, a pitch deck competition, and a business plan competition and we produce several roundtable events annually where faculty, professionals and students discuss pertinent topics at the vanguard of hospitality entrepreneurship.

In the future, we will emphasize incubating and developing student businesses from concept through creation via a series of modifications to existing programs and curriculum. Also, there are new and exciting programs under development. Whether you are student, an alumnus or a hospitality entrepreneur, we invite you to contact us and connect.