Alex Susskind is a Professor of Food and Beverage Management and is currently serving as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Professor Susskind earned his Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University with a specialization in organizational communication and his MBA with a concentration in personnel and human relations. He earned his undergraduate degree at Purdue University in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management and is also a trained chef with a degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Prior to starting his career in academia, Professor Susskind was a chef and restaurant operator for both independent and multi-unit restaurant companies in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States.
The Future of Senior Living
Event Overview
But moves meant to cater to the baby boomers are not the only major changes afoot in the senior living industry. The new constraints associated with managing COVID-19, such as social distancing and increased safety protocols, are also affecting the way senior living facilities function. COVID-19 has forced businesses to modify how they provide service to their residents and their families as well as how their professional staff can interact and engage with the residents and guests. In this new volatile business environment, owners, operators, and service providers are making difficult decisions every day to protect their businesses, assets, employees, and residents.
In this live one-hour discussion, we’ll discuss the future of senior living and how these two concurrent challenges are changing what residents and their families expect and prompting new innovations from the industry.
What You'll Learn
- The changing landscape of senior living
- The importance of innovation and integration in senior living
- Best practices in a COVID-19 world
- How to keep older adults healthy and safe through protocols and design
- How the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing customer choice
Speakers
Brooke Hollis is Associate Director of the Sloan Program in Health Administration (Sloan) at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology as well as co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (CIHF). He also holds appointed faculty positions at CIHF and Sloan, where he teaches courses related to management, planning, and entrepreneurship, and advises students on career issues. Prior to Cornell, Mr. Hollis’s career spanned three decades working in both the public and private sectors, serving in senior management positions in a number of organizations in the health and financial advisory/consulting fields. His experience includes being an owner and growing, then later selling, a group of professional services corporations providing direct clinical services and outsourced contract services to hospitals and other groups in three states.
Beyond his appointment at Sloan, Mr. Hollis’s ongoing professional consulting activities straddle the area of M&A and management consulting, primarily for health and professional services firms. A past president of the Sloan Alumni Association and member of the advisory boards of the College of Human Ecology and the Cornell Club of Greater Hartford, he was recently appointed to the Cayuga Health System board. Mr. Hollis completed his MBA and Sloan Certificate in Health Services Management at Cornell. He also received a B.A. “With Distinction” from DePauw University and a Master’s degree from Washington University in St Louis.
Dr. Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, B.A., M.Arch., M.A., D.Arch., is a professor at Cornell University and chair of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis as well as Associate Director in the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures. She previously served as professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and was director of the TAMU Center for Health Systems & Design from 2004-2014. Dr. Shepley is a fellow in the American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects. She is LEED and EDAC certified.
Dr. Shepley has authored/co-authored six books, including “Healthcare Environments for Children and their Families” (1998), “A Practitioner’s Guide to Evidence-Based Design” (2008), “Design for Critical Care” (2009), “Health Facility Evaluation for Design Practitioners” (2010), “Design for Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care” (2014), and “Design for Mental & Behavioral Health” (2017). Her papers have been published in Healthcare Management Review; Indoor and Built Environment; Journal of Perinatology; Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning; Health Environments Design & Research; World Health Design; Children, Youth & Environments; Journal of Housing for the Elderly; Journal of Environmental Psychology; General Hospital Psychiatry; Building Research Information; Evidence-Based Medicine; Journal of Applied Gerontology; Journal of Interior Design; Child Health Care; Senior Housing & Care; Environment & Behavior; and Perceptual & Motor Skills, among other peer-reviewed venues. To enhance the link between research and practice, Dr. Shepley worked 16 years in practice prior to joining TAMU and has regularly served as a consultant to architectural firms since 2000. She is founder of ART+Science, design research consultants.
Rohit Verma (Professor, Operations, Technology, and Information Management area; School of Hotel Administration; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business) is currently on leave from Cornell University and serving as the Founding Provost/Rector (Chief Academic Officer) of VinUniversity, Hanoi, Vietnam. Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Verma was the Dean of External Relations for Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (May 2016 – June 2019), Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Professor (January 2014 – June 2019), Executive Director of Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (July 2015 – June 2018), and Executive Director of Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (July 2009 – June 2012).

Alex Susskind is a Professor of Food and Beverage Management and is currently serving as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Professor Susskind earned his Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University with a specialization in organizational communication and his MBA with a concentration in personnel and human relations. He earned his undergraduate degree at Purdue University in Restaurant, Hotel, and Institutional Management and is also a trained chef with a degree in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. Prior to starting his career in academia, Professor Susskind was a chef and restaurant operator for both independent and multi-unit restaurant companies in the Northeastern and Southeastern United States.

Brooke Hollis is Associate Director of the Sloan Program in Health Administration (Sloan) at Cornell’s College of Human Ecology as well as co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (CIHF). He also holds appointed faculty positions at CIHF and Sloan, where he teaches courses related to management, planning, and entrepreneurship, and advises students on career issues. Prior to Cornell, Mr. Hollis’s career spanned three decades working in both the public and private sectors, serving in senior management positions in a number of organizations in the health and financial advisory/consulting fields. His experience includes being an owner and growing, then later selling, a group of professional services corporations providing direct clinical services and outsourced contract services to hospitals and other groups in three states.
Beyond his appointment at Sloan, Mr. Hollis’s ongoing professional consulting activities straddle the area of M&A and management consulting, primarily for health and professional services firms. A past president of the Sloan Alumni Association and member of the advisory boards of the College of Human Ecology and the Cornell Club of Greater Hartford, he was recently appointed to the Cayuga Health System board. Mr. Hollis completed his MBA and Sloan Certificate in Health Services Management at Cornell. He also received a B.A. “With Distinction” from DePauw University and a Master’s degree from Washington University in St Louis.

Dr. Mardelle McCuskey Shepley, B.A., M.Arch., M.A., D.Arch., is a professor at Cornell University and chair of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis as well as Associate Director in the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures. She previously served as professor at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and was director of the TAMU Center for Health Systems & Design from 2004-2014. Dr. Shepley is a fellow in the American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects. She is LEED and EDAC certified.
Dr. Shepley has authored/co-authored six books, including “Healthcare Environments for Children and their Families” (1998), “A Practitioner’s Guide to Evidence-Based Design” (2008), “Design for Critical Care” (2009), “Health Facility Evaluation for Design Practitioners” (2010), “Design for Pediatric and Neonatal Critical Care” (2014), and “Design for Mental & Behavioral Health” (2017). Her papers have been published in Healthcare Management Review; Indoor and Built Environment; Journal of Perinatology; Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning; Health Environments Design & Research; World Health Design; Children, Youth & Environments; Journal of Housing for the Elderly; Journal of Environmental Psychology; General Hospital Psychiatry; Building Research Information; Evidence-Based Medicine; Journal of Applied Gerontology; Journal of Interior Design; Child Health Care; Senior Housing & Care; Environment & Behavior; and Perceptual & Motor Skills, among other peer-reviewed venues. To enhance the link between research and practice, Dr. Shepley worked 16 years in practice prior to joining TAMU and has regularly served as a consultant to architectural firms since 2000. She is founder of ART+Science, design research consultants.

Rohit Verma (Professor, Operations, Technology, and Information Management area; School of Hotel Administration; Cornell SC Johnson College of Business) is currently on leave from Cornell University and serving as the Founding Provost/Rector (Chief Academic Officer) of VinUniversity, Hanoi, Vietnam. Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Verma was the Dean of External Relations for Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (May 2016 – June 2019), Singapore Tourism Board Distinguished Professor (January 2014 – June 2019), Executive Director of Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures (July 2015 – June 2018), and Executive Director of Cornell Center for Hospitality Research (July 2009 – June 2012).
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