\u2013By Ivonne Amor<\/p>\n
John McKibbon and his wife Letitia have made a $5 million gift to the\u00a0Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management<\/a>\u00a0that will enhance alumni outreach, implement formal integration of technology and innovation into the curriculum, and create student scholarships at the\u00a0top-10 U.S. public hospitality<\/a>\u00a0school from which he graduated.<\/p>\n The McKibbon \u201975 Alumni Experience will be physically housed at the school on the Biscayne Bay Campus but have a large virtual presence to reach over 17,000 alumni globally. It aims to inspire future generations of professionals and entrepreneurs by celebrating graduates\u2019 success, serving as a convener for the industry and curating experiences to strengthen alumni bonds while serving lifelong learners through continuing education options. It will include space for alumni to meet and network, areas for hospitality executives in residence, mentor\/mentee collaboration and student hospitality clubs.<\/p>\n \u201cFIU is Florida\u2019s number one public university,\u201d McKibbon said. \u201cWhat better place to get a great education, and it\u2019s critical now more than ever to attract more young people to the industry. So, I\u2019m hoping this gift will also encourage others to do the same. I\u2019m excited to see what we can accomplish together.\u201d<\/p>\n Leveraging Miami\u2019s emergence as the next technology hotspot, the gift will increase tech innovation at the Chaplin School through the establishment of the McKibbon \u201975 Professorship, which will secure grants to increase endeavors as an innovative hospitality epicenter and bring the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning and artificial intelligence to the forefront of hospitality tech. The Chaplin School was the first to offer a\u00a0Certificate in IoT in Hospitality<\/a>, and FIU was first in the nation to offer an IoT bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n The gift also will create undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships to help the next generation of students secure a world-class hospitality education and become future industry leaders. It benefits the\u00a0Next Horizon campaign,<\/a>\u00a0which advances student success and research excellence at FIU.<\/p>\n \u201cOur FIU is fortunate to have engaged alumni like John McKibbon who are committed to giving back to their alma mater and helping today\u2019s students,\u201d said FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg. \u201cHis dedication to furthering the global excellence and stature of the Chaplin School will be a game-changer for our university and the entire industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The gift was presented during a recent event celebrating well-loved and influential professor emeritus and E.M. Statler professor\u00a0Rocco M. Angelo\u2019s 90th birthday and the celebration of the school\u2019s 50th anniversary.\u00a0Among the school\u2019s first graduates, McKibbon, who graduated in 1975 and studied under Angelo, has worked in the hospitality industry since he was a teenager and is the third generation to run McKibbon Hotel Group, which was founded in 1926 and is now known as\u00a0McKibbon Hospitality<\/a>. He became president in 1992 and began expanding through development with Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood; today the company has 90 properties in 39 cities. He also founded M3 Hotel Accounting, an internet-based accounting software provider that is now the industry leader.<\/p>\n Through McKibbon\u2019s Matching Funds Program, the firm has raised several million dollars over the past few years for community service organizations across the country, and he was the recipient of Marriott International\u2019s Community Service Award. He was honored by FIU in 2009 with the FIU Medallion for Outstanding Alumnus.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud to count John among the most distinguished graduates of the Chaplin School, and his investment in the Chaplin School will prove transformational for hospitality education and the industry,\u201d said Michael Cheng, the school\u2019s dean. \u201cHis phenomenal achievements in the field will be reflected by what this gift makes possible for our school and its students.\u201d<\/p>\n George Corton, chief development officer at the FIU Foundation, who first connected with McKibbon 10 years ago added, \u201cAs an FIU alumnus myself, I am inspired by John McKibbon\u2019s incredible commitment to our alma mater. His success in the hospitality field demonstrates the impact an FIU education can have on our graduates\u2019 lives. This gift is John\u2019s living legacy, and with it, he will help us build, shape and reinvent this program. His generosity will facilitate opportunities for generations of students to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2013By Ivonne Amor John McKibbon and his wife Letitia have made a $5 million gift to the\u00a0Florida International University Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management\u00a0that will enhance alumni outreach, implement formal integration of technology and innovation into the curriculum, and create student scholarships at the\u00a0top-10 U.S. public hospitality\u00a0school from which he graduated. The McKibbon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":16167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,368],"tags":[453,415,149,472,376,463,441,366,457],"class_list":["post-16166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-spotlight","category-philanthropy","tag-alumni","tag-alumni-association","tag-chaplin-school-of-hospitality-and-tourism-management","tag-donor","tag-donor-spotlight","tag-fiu-next-horizon","tag-next-horizon","tag-philanthropy","tag-student-success"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16168,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16166\/revisions\/16168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}