Spartan Profiles: Fred Kleisner
WYNDHAM INTERNATIONAL
One well-known brand in upscale hotels and resorts is Wyndham International, Inc. Founded in 1981, Wyndham is based in Dallas, TX, employs more than 19,000 people worldwide, and owns or runs some 150 properties boasting some 40,000 guest rooms. Under the leadership of Fred Kleisner, ’66, Wyndham’s chairman, CEO and president, the company has recently completed a $1.65 billion refinancing of its corporate credit facilities. "This refinancing is a clear confirmation by the lending community of Wyndham's financial strength," says Kleisner, who boasts more than 35 years executive experience with Hilton, Sheraton and Westin.
The former general manager of such landmark properties as the Waldorf Astoria in New York and the Capital Hilton in Washington DC, Fred is poised to take Wyndham to the next level. A former seminary student, Fred decided to switch to the hospitality business and chose MSU over Cornell because “the authors of all the leading textbooks in hospitality were teaching at MSU.”
Says Fred, “MSU really offered a balanced education where you have the academic focus and also the social aspect.” Many campus esperiences have paid dividends later. For example, he marched for civil rights on campus, and recently, after firming up diversity policies at Wyndham, was invited to chair the NAACP’s 2004 corporate campaign.
But his most important MSU benefit was his meeting “Johnna, my partner for life.” Now close to their fortieth anniversary, Fred and Johnna met and, he recalls, “We used to sit on a bench behind Mary Mayo and plot out all the details of our life together. As things have turned out, that was just the tip of the iceberg. Every year or so, when I return to MSU to speak, Johnna and I still go back and sit on that bench.”
