Belfast – Leadership Series with John Fitzpatrick 2018

Biography

Dr. John Fitzpatrick, OBE is President and CEO of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, North America, the only Irish owned and managed property in New York.

John began his formal hospitality training with a four year hotel management course at the Fitzpatrick Hotels in Ireland, followed by the prestigious hotel management course at UNLV in Las Vegas. After honing his skills with two major hotel organizations in Chicago, John returned to Ireland to work at his family’s hotels in Dublin and Bunratty. He moved back to the U.S. in 1991 when he opened his first hotel in New York City.

In 2014, John served as Chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), which represents more than 52,000 member hotels throughout the United States, comprised of over 4.5 million guestrooms with $137 billion in sales.

On January 1, 2014, John succeeded Loretta Brennan Glucksman as Chairman of The Ireland Funds America. Founded in 1976, The Ireland Funds currently operates in 12 countries and has raised over $600 million for over 3200 organizations.

John is also on the Board of Directors of The Ireland-U.S. Council.

John has received numerous honors for both his business savvy and charitable work, ranging from Crain’s New York Business “Top Forty Entrepreneurs Under Forty” to the Irish Voice’s Person of the Year Award.

In 2002, John received the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor, whose previous recipients include former presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani, several Nobel Laureates, and other distinguished leaders.

In 2008, John was recognized for his contributions to the peace process in Northern Ireland by being invested with an honorary OBE by Her Majesty the Queen. Irish America Magazine recognized John with its most prestigious award, “Irish American of the Year,” in 2010, as well as including him among its “Business 100” in 2010, 2012 and 2013.

In July 2011, Queen’s University Belfast conferred upon John an honorary Doctorate of Science in Economics. On March 21, 2013, John was inducted into the Irish America Hall of Fame.

On June 11, 2013, Dublin City University awarded its highest honorary Degree of Philosophy to John. John is very active in a number of philanthropic activities, and is particularly dedicated to supporting organizations that aid children in need, as well as those that advance the peace process in Northern Ireland. He founded a charitable foundation over 23 years ago in memory of his late parents to benefit such causes. The Eithne and Paddy Fitzpatrick Memorial Foundation has raised close to $4 million for charities that include the Barretstown Gang Camp (in County Kildare), the Corrymeela Reconciliation Centre (in County Antrim), The O’Hanlon Park Boxing Club (in Dundalk) and the Integrated Education Fund. These projects have been supported by The Ireland Funds.

RSVP

RSVP to sgallagher@irelandfunds.org by Thursday 12 April 2018