Commercial Real EstateCornell

Certificate Program

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.

Jeanne Varney is a senior lecturer at the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration. She is part of the Property Development and Management Department, where she is responsible for the curriculum in Hospitality Facilities Management, Hospitality Asset Management, Sustainable Development, and Introduction to Sustainable Hospitality Principles. In Hospitality Facilities Management, Professor Varney combines the technical facilities curriculum with a practical management perspective. In Hospitality Asset Management, she examines the broad range of issues faced by hotel ownership groups requiring asset management oversight and analyses, as well as how to influence results that meet ownership objectives. In Sustainable Development, Professor Varney leads students through the principles, methodology, and strategic application of green hotel development and practices in an engaged learning environment. In Introduction to Sustainable Hospitality Principles, she guides students through the implementation of tactical green principles, policies, and practices.

Outside Cornell, Professor Varney is a principal with Olive Hospitality Consulting, where she provides practical sustainability solutions to businesses looking to improve the “triple bottom line” for their organizations. She has more than 20 years of real estate, operations, and sustainable hospitality experience. Prior to establishing Olive Hospitality Consulting, Professor Varney was vice president of asset management at Host Hotels and Resorts, administering the full range of ownership responsibilities, including operational and capital expenditure budgeting, ongoing operational reviews, and long-term strategic planning for the properties. She previously held positions with Marriott International Corporate Headquarters and Horwath Landauer Hospitality Consulting, as well as positions with the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts.

In addition to her professional duties, Professor Varney is an international past-president for NEWH, Inc., and a founding member of the NEWH Sustainability Committee. She is also a member of U.S. Green Building Council, Sustainable Hospitality Council, Cornell Real Estate Council, and Cornell Hotel Society. Professor Varney holds an MBA from the George Washington University and a B.S. degree in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.

Jan A. deRoos retired from Cornell University in June of 2021 and is the HVS Professor emeritus of Hotel Finance and Real Estate at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and a former NAIOP Faculty Fellow. He is a world expert in commercial real estate, with a focus on the treatment of lodging as a financial asset, hotel investment decisions, hotel valuation, and hotel asset management. His work includes an acclaimed eCornell online certification in hotel real estate, the Hotel Valuation Software with Stephen Rushmore of HVS, the seminal academic work on hotel management agreements, and a deep stream of scholarship on hotel real estate matters.

During his career, deRoos founded Cornell’s Center for Real Estate & Finance and Cornell’s Minor in Real Estate, was founding dean of the Cornell-Nanyang University (Singapore) partnership, and taught in degree and executive programs across the globe. He was academic director of the Cornell-VinUniversity Project, a collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania to assist with the creation of Vietnam’s first private nonprofit university. deRoos was very active in curricular design at Cornell and for a host of hospitality management schools. Prior to joining Cornell, deRoos worked as a construction and engineering manager. His degrees are from Cornell University: a PhD focused on hotel real estate and law, an MS in hotel engineering (mechanical), and a BS in hotel administration. Hobbies include cooking and outdoor activities.