Thomas Ward

Thomas Ward is managing director of the Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship. He has almost three decades of leadership experience in entrepreneurial, corporate, military and university settings.  Information about Mr. Ward's background and experience is included below (provided by the School of Hotel Administration):

A native Ithacan, Ward is a 1981 graduate with distinction of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University and a 1990 graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business. While on the hill, Ward spent his junior and senior years leading two entrepreneurial enterprises at the undergraduate entrepreneurship organization Student Agencies, an experience that laid the foundation for his later entrepreneurial endeavors.

After graduating from Cornell, Ward spent almost six years as an intelligence officer in the US Navy where he established and honed his leadership skills. After his stint at HBS, he took on three entrepreneurial assignments - heading up merger and acquisition activities for BTG, Inc.; launching Infinite Images, Inc.; and acquiring Consolidated Mortgage.

By age 40, Ward had served his country; launched, acquired, and sold businesses; and become CEO of a company that grew to more than $50 million in revenue and 300 employees. From 2000 until his arrival at the institute in 2008, Ward's business focus had been to provide advice to would-be entrepreneurs and innovators. As a consultant, his clients included start-ups through Fortune 500 companies, including Fannie Mae. During this time, Ward also undertook a year-long assignment as the COO of a rapidly growing, 1,800-employee mortgage company, and he served as an Executive in Residence at NC State University.

Ward routinely provides advice to students, business owners, and executives. He serves on the advisory board to Student Agencies' business incubator eLab, and he is an advisor to Entrepreneurship@Cornell's advisory council.  The outreach team of AguaClara initially made contact with Thomas Ward in the fall of 2010 and discussed with him our needs and future direction.  Ward was of great help: he provided us with initial guidance related to the internal resources available at Cornell and pointed us to other "entrepreneurial individuals" to speak with.  We continue to work with him and his team at the Pillsbury Institute.

Contact: tlw54@cornell.edu

The Pillsbury Institute for Entrepreneurship: http://www.ihe.cornell.edu/