About

The Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship (PIHE), established in 2006, aims to be the home for entrepreneurial thought leadership in the hospitality industry. It seeks to accomplish this goal by collaborating with faculty, industry professionals, and students.

Students: PIHE is the hub for Cornell students interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial career in a field relevant to the hospitality industry. To accomplish this goal, PIHE teams faculty and accomplished entrepreneurs with students, to help them develop the knowledge, skills, and practical experience necessary to pursue their entrepreneurial ambitions. Using its programs, events, and network, PIHE is also able to work with the Cornell Nolan School Administration to assist in the offerings of undergraduate- and graduate-level entrepreneurship courses. The courses are designed to provide students with an analytical framework for pursuing an entrepreneurial venture.

Professionals: PIHE is a source of information for those creating a hospitality business, managing a small and family-operated business, purchasing franchises, developing a corporate venture, funding a new venture, and being an innovator. To accomplish this goal, PIHE brings industry professionals, faculty, and other stakeholders together, in multiple forums, to create and share knowledge pertaining to entrepreneurship and innovation.

Along with its directors, program manager, and affiliated faculty, PIHE’s Advisory Board members offer vital counsel and help direct and operationalize the Institute’s philosophy and activities.