WASHINGTON, DC—Diplomat Hotel Corp. President Mike Patel was named as the new chairman of the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation Fund Development Committee (AH&LEF). The primary function of the committee is to raise money for the 1998-initiated AH&LEF Annual Giving Campaign. The effort has a goal of $125,000 to support scholarships and industry research plans. Past AH&LEF chairpersons include: Joseph Kane Jr., group president and CEO of Cedant Hotel Division; and Stephen Belmonte, president and CEO of Hospitality Solutions. In other news, the American Hotel & Lodging Association’s (AH&LA) Information Center recently transferred its archival materials, vertical files and book collection to the University of Houston’s Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Houston, TX. With the primary function of collecting and offering information, the Information Center contains 70,000 current articles on 2,500 topics, a library of 3,000 books and subscriptions to magazines and newsletters.
