Our Founder - Phil Miller
Phil served as Director of Alumni Affairs for Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration and Secretary of its alumni association, the Cornell Hotel Society, from 1993 to 2004. In this capacity he directed all operations of the most active alumni association in the world, with particular expertise in public relations, communications (both Web and print), loyalty programs, association management, executive search and networking; assisted the School's 10,000 plus students and alumni in all aspects of their careers and lifelong interaction with Cornell; served as Executive Editor of the alumni magazine, the Cornell Hotel Society Bulletin, and Managing Editor of the Cornell Hotel School magazine; supervised the operations of 60 alumni chapters worldwide, which called for frequent international travel; directed the efforts of more than 130 volunteers; and managed the transition from a largely print-based to a largely on-line information system.
A 1983 graduate of the Cornell Hotel School, Miller spent 10 years following his graduation in various executive capacities in the hospitality industry. His first position was as a Corporate Management Trainee with Hyatt Hotels Corporation, based in Arizona. He was placed in Hyatt hotels in San Francisco and Washington DC, among others, and worked in every department, with a concentration in sales and marketing. Miller then worked with The Related Companies in New York City as part of a team which developed, built and opened a renowned and very successful midtown Manhattan nightclub. Seeking international experience, Miller worked as a manager for a resort in Central America. Subsequently, he became operations manager of a resort/safari camp in Kenya. In 1993, he was asked to join the Cornell Hotel School's Office of Alumni Affairs and returned to Ithaca, New York.
In addition to his search firm, Miller was a founding partner and Senior Managing Director of Paramount Lodging Advisors, a full-service international hospitality real estate specialty group. Paramount's nine offices around the world are comprised of industry professionals, each of whom have extensive experience in the hospitality industry from the operational, development and real estate perspectives. Paramount's clients range from limited service hotel brands through highly personalized independent boutique hotel owner/operators to world class five star hotel chains.
For the academic years 2015 through 2019, Miller was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Cornell Hotel School's Pillsbury Institute for Entrepreneurship. He also served as a Trustee and former President of the Cornell Hotel Society Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Cornell Hotel School alumni association, and for many years was a board member of the Quill and Dagger Senior Honorary Society. Miller with his wife Yasamin resided in Ithaca, New York.