Brad Wellstead has gathered several careers on his way to becoming a faculty member at the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration. In 1983, he graduated from the Cornell School of Architecture, Art, and Planning and worked as an architect for several years as a design-build developer and as a senior design architect with Group 70 International in Honolulu, Hawaii. The work in Hawaii awakened a passion for hospitality and resort design.
Mr. Wellstead reoriented his career toward project and construction management with an MPS/M.S. degree from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration in 1996. That degree afforded him the opportunity to explore some of the early research forays into sustainable development, resulting in a thesis on sustainable tourism development. Mr. Wellstead relocated to Portland, Oregon, to pursue his dream of founding Ethos Development, a project management services firm. Over 18 years, Ethos managed over $2.1 billion in projects across numerous sectors, including hospitality, healthcare, research, government, and higher education.
Mr. Wellstead returned to Cornell to initiate his third career in academia. His academic research interests include new trends in hospitality design, exploring the dynamics of the feasibility/development transition, the art and organization of project management, the value of sustainability practices, and participation in the continued status and excellence of the Nolan School of Hotel Administration as the ultimate hospitality business school.
