BU School of Hospitality Administration Announces Appointments to the Advisory Board
Ian Carter, Chairman, Watches of Switzerland Group PLC; Chairman of BU SHA Advisory Board
John Murray, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta); BU SHA Advisory Board Member
(May 25, 2022) Boston, MA – Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration (BU SHA) announces the appointment of Ian Carter, Chairman, Watches of Switzerland Group PLC, to the position of Chairman of the Advisory Board. Appointed as a new member is John Murray, President and Chief Executive Officer with Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (Sonesta).
“The wealth of knowledge, combined with a passion for Hospitality, that Ian Carter and John Murray bring will be incredibly valuable,” said Arun Upneja, Dean of Boston University School of Hospitality Administration. “On behalf of our board, faculty, students, and staff we appreciate their commitment to our school and to the career development of rising generations of Hospitality leaders.”
Ian Carter, Chairman of the BU SHA Advisory Board, is the Chairman, Watches of Switzerland Group PLC, the world’s leading retailer of luxury watch brands including Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Omega, and Hublot. In addition, Carter is the Non-Executive Director of SERVPRO, Chairman of the Audit Committee (Blackstone-owned company), Advisory Board Member of Right Formula, and owner/partner of The Exclusive Automotive Group (EAG) of Washington, D.C., main dealers of Aston Martin, Bentley, Koenigsegg, and Karma luxury vehicles. Until Dec 2020, Ian was President of Hilton – Global Development, Architecture, Design & Construction, where he was responsible for the company’s growth and expansion into new markets around the world. Ian has served on the BU Advisory Board since 2012. Prior to the appointment to Chair, he was Vice-Chair beginning in 2020. To learn more about Ian Carter, view the recording of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture with Ian Carter in Spring 2021.
John Murray is an Executive Vice President of The RMR Group (Nasdaq: RMR) and is a member of the RMR Executive Operating Committee. He is also Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Sonesta International Hotels Corporation and serves as a Managing Trustee of Service Properties Trust (Nasdaq: SVC) and Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (Nasdaq: ILPT). Murray previously served as SVC’s President from 1996 to 2022 and Chief Executive Officer from 2018 to 2022. He was also ILPT’s President and Chief Executive Officer from 2018 to 2022. Murray currently serves on the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Development Council and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) Hotel Investment Roundtable.
About Boston University School of Hospitality Administration: Established in 1981 and now celebrating over 40 years of Innovating the Business of Hospitality, Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration (SHA) offers students a combination of rigorous academics, liberal arts curriculum, and international experiences for the pursuit of success in lodging, restaurants, food service, and other avenues of the hospitality industry. SHA has a unique relationship with the city of Boston, where the area’s hotels and restaurants provide students with numerous opportunities for internships to satisfy work experience requirements for their degrees. For more information about the powerful SHA undergraduate program, visit Boston University School of Hospitality Administration Undergraduate Program | School of Hospitality Administration and to learn more about the internationally recognized MMH program, visit Master of Management in Hospitality (MMH) Degree | BU SHA .
About Boston University: Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 34,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 schools and colleges and the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. For more information, visit About BU | Boston University
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dean Arun Upneja
Email: aupneja@bu.edu
Office: 617-358-6744
Mara Littman, Director of Corporate and Public Relations
Email: mlittman@bu.edu
Office: 617-353-4496