LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ -- Robert I. Small (left), president and CEO of Fairmont Hotel Management Company, will serve as the Rider University College of Business Administration's CEO on Campus on Thursday, March 5.

A Rider alumnus, Small became the first Fairmont president and CEO to be selected from outside the Swig family. He holds an unprecedented record in the hospitality industry that has earned him the nickname "Five Star Small."

Headquartered in San Francisco, Fairmont Hotel Management L.P. operates seven luxury hotels in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Jose/Silicon Valley. The most recent additions to the Fairmont grand hotels are The Plaza Hotel in New York City and The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.

The CEO on Campus program, begun in 1984, brings prominent business leaders to the campus to meet business students and faculty throughout the day. It gives students an opportunity to meet and talk to successful business executives and, in turn, for the CEO to observe the quality of Rider students.

At 10 a.m., Smith will address students and faculty in the Sweigart Hall auditorium. He will discuss reengineering the company, how to create a professional culture and how to build a sense of urgency within the organization. Among students in attendance will be those representing such courses as Strategy Management and Policy, Marketing Principles, and Team Management.

Following lunch, Small will conduct a seminar with about 12 students in the Sweigart Hall faculty lounge. This will be an opportunity for Small and the students to have an expanded discussion of topics related to his presentation and an open conservation with questions of interest.

Prior to his current position, Small was the executive vice president of Walt Disney Resorts, where he presided over Disney's largest hospitality expansion which doubled the rooms at Walt Disney World and ultimately set the stage for EuroDisney.

In 1985, the Bass Brothers of the Bass-owned Worthington Operating Company brought Small to Fort Worth, TX to serve as president of their company. There he established The Worthington Hotel as one of Texas' premier independent hotels.

From 1973 to 1985, Small performed as a key player in the Marriott Corporation team that built the hotel chain from five to 100 hotels worldwide in a single decade. Rising to the rank of vice president, he earned a "five-star" rating as manager of the Amsterdam Marriott Hotel in Amsterdam, Holland and Rancho Las Palmas resort in Rancho Mirage, CA. He began his career with the Restaurant Associates Group in New York City.

A cancer survivor, Small serves as a member of the board of visitors for M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Among his many honors and awards, he received the 1990 Restaurants and Institutions IVY Award and was named Cornell University's Entrepreneur of the Year in 1987. He resides in San Francisco with his wife, Carla, and their two children, Katie and Michael.

The College of Business Administration offers undergraduate majors in accounting, actuarial science, advertising, business administration, computer information systems, global business, human resource management, management and organizational behavior, and marketing, as well as a MBA program and a Master of Accountancy program. The College holds the prestigious accreditation with AACSB International --The International Association for Management Education for undergraduate and graduate programs. Only for four colleges in New Jersey and 23 percent nationally hold that accreditation.