Ambassador Awards Recognizes Hospitality Stars, Inspires Students
Buffalo State University’s Hospitality and Tourism Department makes a point of recognizing alumni and others who are making contributions to the field, as well as connecting them with current students.
This effort culminates with the annual Hospitality and Ambassador Awards ceremony, which includes speakers, accolades, and of course, delicious cuisine. The 27th annual ceremony will be held Wednesday, April 19, at 5:30 p.m. in Bulger Communication Center 214, followed by a reception in the Russell J. Salvatore Demonstration Kitchen in Caudell Hall.
This year’s theme is “Shared Vision for Student Success.” The honorees are Stephen Forman, ’92, regional executive chef at Delaware North; Nicholas Insalaco, ’16, ’18, transfer and articulation adviser for the Buffalo State Admissions Office; and Nick Markel, ’06, general manager and chief operating officer at the Country Club of Buffalo.
Also during the event, members of the hospitality and tourism faculty will recognize the 22 Statler Foundation Award recipients and the winner of the Statler Scholarship of Excellence award. Representatives from the Campus House Board of Directors will also honor two students with the Campus House Members Award.
“The Ambassador Awards ceremony began as a way to demonstrate to students what hospitality really means and how far you can go with a degree from Buffalo State,” said Kathleen O’Brien, chair of hospitality and tourism, who helped found the event in 1996 with Stephen Burgeson, lecturer of hospitality and tourism. “It’s exciting to see it continue and grow over the years. Legends within the hospitality world are represented very well in our program.”
Hospitality and tourism faculty members nominate the award recipients based on their service to the community and often, too, their connection to the department, O’Brien said.
Delaware North is serving as the corporate sponsor of this year’s event.
“The hospitality and tourism organization employs some of our own alumni, along with current recipient Chef Forman,” O’Brien said. “This is one thing that inspired them to become a sponsor. When we began, none of the recipients were our alumni. They were professionals working in the community. Now, many of those professionals are also our alumni, and we’re quite proud of that.”
When the Ambassador Awards began, Campus House wasn’t yet in existence, and Caudell Hall didn’t have its state-of-the-art culinary lab. The ceremony, thus, shifted among various venues.
“We hosted it in the Campbell Student Union, the Sports Arena, the Burchfield Penney Art Center, and in Rockwell Hall,” ‘O’Brien said. “It was a dream when Campus House opened, but after Caudell Hall was renovated in 2017, we moved it there. It’s really become our academic home, and people are interested in seeing our culinary lab.”
Guests will also have the opportunity to taste what’s created in the culinary lab. For this year’s event, students in HTR 400: Catering Management, under the director of lecturer Don Schmitter, will prepare three main dishes that reflect the award recipients’ favorite foods.
“It should be a terrific event, and we are humbled and grateful that so many friends of the program continue to support us in many ways,” O’Brien said. “The Ambassador Awards is our landmark event, which is not only a night of fun, but also a source of inspiration for our students.”
Tickets are $30, and reservations are required by emailing hospitality@buffalostate.edu. Please make checks payable to Campus House Club Student Program Fund.
