Hospitality Design - July 2010 - 79

women of inﬂuence
Pioneers, leaders, gamechangers, rising stars. Meet 65 women who have made the hospitality design industry what it is, continue to challenge it, and who will impact it for years to come.

Dorothy Draper (1889-1969) Sarah Tomerlin Lee (1910-2001)
Principal Tom Lee, Ltd. New York
A former writer, editor, and advertising executive, Sarah Tomerlin Lee assumed responsibility for her husband’s design ﬁrm upon his death in 1971. Without any speciﬁc design experience, she created many classic hotels, including the Helmsley Palace in New York, the Bellevue in Philadelphia, and the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC, all known for their quiet grace, impeccable taste, and reverence for history. (Parker Meridien shown.) According to Todd-Avery Lenahan of ABA Design Studio, “Sarah consistently eschewed ‘trend’ and instead subscribed to prevailing ‘good taste,’ which in today’s parlance may fall short of what many designers in our industry hope for as a compliment, but that to me is one of the most extraordinary and universally complimentary sentiments to express about a designer. I’ll always hope for ‘good taste’ as a compliment that endures and overshadows ‘hip design’ with an expiration date.”

Founder Dorothy Draper and Company New York
Dorothy Draper combined inﬂuential residential design with iconic hospitality projects, including the Greenbrier, the cafeteria at the MoMA, the Grand Hotel at Mackinaw Island, as well as a line of fabrics for Schumacher. Bold design and audacious use of color became her trademark. Her famous motto: “If it looks right, it is right.” (Mark Hopkins Hotel shown.) According to Carlton Varney, her heir apparent and biographer, “Draper revolutionized the concept of design by breaking away from historical room styles. She was a modern, one of the ﬁrst decorators of the breed, and a pioneer. She invented ‘modern baroque,’ a style with particular application to large public spaces and modern architecture.”

Dorrit St. John
Consultant Los Angeles
Vienna-born Dorrit St. John worked as a retail buyer, a manufacturer of architectural special effects, and a license contractor before joining Purchase Service Limited (PSL) in 1976, becoming president and partner three years later. She oversaw PSL ofﬁces in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore, and London before her semi-retirement in 1994. A co-founder of NEWH (which now stands for the Hospitality Industry Network), she was the ﬁrst person named as NEWH’s Woman of the Year in 1990. Shelia Lohmiller, NEWH executive director, calls St. John “The purchasing maven of the hospitality industry.” According to Lohmiller, NEWH was St. John’s idea: “And what an idea! A group of women who wanted to help and support one another, to break the glass ceiling. Who would have thought that idea would have turned into an international association that links all areas of our industry. Kudos to you, Dorrit!”

Shelia Lohmiller
Executive Director NEWH Inc. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Shelia Lohmiller is co-founder (with Dorrit St. John and Susan Spalding) of NEWH in 1984 and has been executive director since 1993. NEWH’s remarkable growth in the past three decades has mirrored that of the hospitality industry. The organization now boasts 19 chapters in the U.S., Canada, and London, with three more currently in the works. Under her leadership, its savvy in creating networking opportunities, education, and philanthropy has made it a vital component of hospitality. According to Anita Degen, a member of the NEWH executive committee, “Shelia has been the force and the vision, the heart and the soul, behind NEWH Inc. since its inception. She has never put herself at the center of that vision. For her, it has always been about strengthening the industry and helping those in need of a boost. If our industry has a den mother, it is Shelia.”

www.hospitalitydesign.com

July 2010

http://www.hospitalitydesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Hospitality Design - July 2010