Biography
Jay H. Shah is chief executive officer of Hersha Hospitality Trust and a member of the company’s board of trustees. He is involved in all aspects of the business, with a focus on strategic relationships, capital transactions, asset management and acquisitions.
Hersha Hospitality Trust is a self-advised real estate investment trust focused on upscale hotels in urban gateway markets. The company owns and operates 50 hotels totaling 7,584 rooms in cities including New York, Washington, D.C., Boston, Philadelphia and Miami, as well as select markets on the West Coast. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Shah also serves on the board of directors of HHM, an independent hotel operating and private equity investment company that operates more than 120 hotels across the United States for institutional owners. The firm works across independent, lifestyle and luxury properties and partners with major brands including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and InterContinental Hotels Group.
Prior to joining Hersha, Shah co-founded Shah & Byler LLP, a law firm focused on real estate and construction. Earlier in his career, he worked at Coopers & Lybrand, now PricewaterhouseCoopers, served as a legislative assistant to Sen. John Heinz and worked with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
Shah serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration and is a member of the board of directors for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He also participates in several industry and civic organizations, including the association’s Hospitality Investment Roundtable, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Philadelphia CEO Council for Growth.
He earned a Bachelor of Science from the School of Hotel Administration (now the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration) at Cornell University, an MBA from Temple University’s Fox School of Business and a law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law.