A century of global hospitality leadership

For more than 100 years, the Nolan School has set the standard for hospitality business education. As the world’s most relevant and groundbreaking hospitality school, the Nolan School prepares purposeful, authentic and vibrant future leaders while advancing transformative research and serving as a hub for industry thought leadership. From launching the world’s first undergraduate hospitality management degree program to offering a dynamic education spanning real estate, finance, entrepreneurship and food and beverage management, the Nolan School continues to shape the future of hospitality.

A history of hospitality

Founded in 1922 at the request of leading hoteliers and the American Hotel Association, the school launched the world’s first undergraduate hospitality management degree program with just 21 students and one professor, Howard B. Meek.

From its beginnings in the original 50-room The Statler Hotel “management laboratory” to today’s elegant hotel and expanded academic offerings in real estate finance, entrepreneurship and beyond, Nolan continues to shape the future of hospitality education. It also remains the only stand-alone hospitality school in the United States to earn AACSB accreditation.

1922 — Cornell School of Hotel Administration is established.  

1927 — First Hotel Ezra Conference held, with hotelier millionaire Ellsworth M. Statler — whose mantra was “life is service….” — in attendance.

1950 — Statler Inn, our first teaching hotel, books first guests. 

1973 — First master’s degree in hotel management launches. 

1986 — Statler Hotel & J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center opens. 

1989 — The Statler Hotel, Ithaca’s only AAA Four Diamond property, is built. 

2014 — Partnership and MMH/MBA dual degree with China Europe International Business School begins. 

2017 — The School of Hotel Administration joins the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business supported by a $150 million gift from H. Fisk Johnson, ’79, MEng ’80, MS ’82, MBA ’84, PhD ’86 and SC Johnson.

2021 — Historic $50 million gift from Peter and Stephanie Nolan establishes a new name for the school.

2022 — Celebrated our Centennial.

Inventing the science of hospitality

In the 1920s, leading hoteliers recognized the need to professionalize the hospitality industry and envisioned a first-rate academic institution dedicated to the “science” of running hotels and restaurants — a groundbreaking idea at the time. In 1922, at the request of hotel magnates and the American Hotel Association, the Cornell School of Hotel Administration was founded at Cornell University, launching the world’s first undergraduate hospitality management degree program with 21 students under the direction of Howard B. Meek.

About Ellsworth and Alice Statler

“Life is service – the one who progresses is the one who gives his fellow men a little more – a little better service.” — E. M. Statler

At the second-ever Hotel Ezra Cornell conference in 1927, hotelier Ellsworth M. Statler went from skeptic to supporter of hospitality education, becoming convinced that classroom and experiential learning go hand in hand. Before his death in 1928, Statler and his wife, Alice Statler, became founding benefactors of the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration. Through the continuing support of the Statler Foundation, their legacy has shaped generations of students through investments in teaching, research, scholarships, facilities and the school’s enduring emphasis on experiential learning.

From inn to innovation

Following Ellsworth M. Statler’s support of Cornell hospitality education, the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration continued to expand and innovate. In 1948, the Statler Foundation funded Statler Hall and the original Statler Inn “management laboratory,” helping establish the School of Hotel Administration in 1950.

The school later launched the hospitality industry’s first master’s degree program, expanded executive education, and opened the The Statler Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center. Today, Nolan continues to invest in modern facilities and experiential learning spaces that prepare students to lead the global hospitality industry.

Extending our global reach

Nolan School alumni lead globally in the hospitality industry, from hotels, resorts and restaurants to real estate firms and entrepreneurial ventures. As the industry has evolved, the Nolan School has continued to innovate through research centers focused on hospitality, real estate, entrepreneurship and labor relations; global partnerships including a dual degree program with China Europe International Business School; interdisciplinary collaborations such as the Baker Program in Real Estate; and online learning initiatives that have expanded the school’s reach worldwide. In 2014, Nolan also became the only stand-alone hospitality school in the world to earn AACSB accreditation, and since 20XX, the Nolan School remains AACSB accredited with the SC Johnson College of Business.

In 2026, with an $11.5 million gift from three alumni donors and an estate gift from C. Kenneth Grailer, the Hospitality Grailer Food Lab became one of the country’s first fully electric teaching kitchens.