Kemmons Wilson, the founder of the Holiday Inn hotel chain and the benefactor who made the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management possible, died in his Memphis home Wednesday evening. He was 90 years old.
Wilson is perhaps best known among U of M students for his generous gift of $15 million that was used to create the hospitality institute.
Wilson’s decision to give $15 million to The U of M to fund the hospitality school was based on his love of Memphis and his desire to give something back to The University, those who knew him said.
“He has lived in Memphis most of his life. He wanted to do something with the university that was here and only in his home town,” said Robert O’Halloran, a professor and director of management at The U of M. “I think that he had a warm feeling for The University.”
Wilson was born in 1913 in Arkansas but lived in Memphis most of his life. Before making a name for himself in the hotel business, Wilson created a number of small companies. He fell into the hotel industry as a result of his high expectations of service.
During a family trip to a Homebuilders convention in 1951, he noticed an inconsistency in hotel accommodations.
“At each hotel he would pay different prices, but he would get different services,” said John Pepin, dean of the business and economic department at The U of M. “Even though he would pay a bridge price he would get a little service or he would pay full price and get a lot of service. So he said that we had to standardize the industry.”
Wilson’s realization of inconsistent hotel prices and services sparked an interest in creating his own hotel management business.
In 1952, Wilson built the first Holiday Inn in Memphis.
Over the last 50 years, Wilson, accompanied by his family, has been responsible for developing more than 100 companies, ranging from country clubs to hotel management.
Pepin bases Wilson’s success on three main points.
“First, he never forgot the middle-income class. Second, he had an unbelievable eye for selecting properties and sights for the Holiday Inn hotels. And third, he loved being at home with his family,” Pepin said. “That was the most important thing of all.”
Although Wilson has passed on, his contributions to The U of M will remain visible. O’Halloran said administrators over the hospitality school will do their best to make Wilson’s dreams become reality.
“We’re going to continue with what we were trying to do. It would have been nice to have had him around longer and involve him more if his health had been well,” O’Halloran said. “But we are going to make sure that we make this a school that he would be most proud of.”
