Please join us in congratulating the 2021 Alumni Award Winners. Presented by the Alumni Society, these annual awards celebrate our alumni’s many achievements while at EA and beyond. DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS
Mark Hoplamazian ’81 Mark Hoplamazian ‘81 is the current President and CEO of Hyatt Hotels Corp. In this role, he oversees more than 925 properties and 120,000 employees in more than 60 countries. Mark graduated from Harvard University in 1985, where he studied economics. He became a Wall Street analyst before earning a Master’s of Business Administration at The University of Chicago in 1989. He then began working under Jay Pritzker for the Pritzker Organization in Chicago. In 2005, he was selected to be its president, and to manage its merchant banking and investment activities as the principal financial and investment advisor to various Pritzker familyowned companies. One of these companies was Hyatt, which was founded by Jay Pritzker in 1957. Following the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009, Mark and the Hyatt team led the largest expansion in Hyatt’s history, doubling the number of hotels in the portfolio, achieving higher growth for Hyatt’s core brands, and expanding to 10 new brands over the past 13 years. Mark attributes his work ethic to his upbringing in suburban Philadelphia. Mark was the youngest of five children and his father, Harry, was a landscape architect and contractor. When Mark was 13, his father died from his fourth heart attack at the age of 53. “As a 13 year old, you don’t really have great context for financial security. Even though my mom would say everything is fine and I shouldn’t worry about the future, I always had financial security on my mind.” Mark attended Episcopal for Upper School, where he was involved with soccer, squash, football, chess, glee club, Student Council, Scholium (served as co-editor as a senior), Tabula, Vestry (served as senior warden), Math Club (served as co-president as a senior), and Hospitality (served as chair as a senior—a presage of his future at Hyatt). His rare relaxation activities include adventure travel and family immersion getaways, such as safaris in Africa, biking in France, hiking in Central America, and fishing in Idaho. “Nothing compares with the times when I can totally unplug and fully connect with my family while we’re exploring new things together, fully immersed and totally engaged in the moment,” he said.
SERVICE TO EA
Charles W. Ogelsby, Jr. ’63 After attending Episcopal, Charlie Ogelsby ‘63 received both a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s of Business Administration from Temple University. He began the financial portion of his career at Price Waterhouse in Philadelphia, followed by various controller and chief financial officer positions with a variety of companies in the greater Philadelphia area. He says the most fun he’s had in his career has been with his involvement with two family businesses. First, he enjoys working with his wife, Carol, and daughter, Ali, in residential real estate sales as part of The Ogelsby Group. He also enjoys working with his son, Matt, to bring lacrosse programs to the greater San Francisco area. As a senior at Episcopal, Charlie was president of the Student Fund, as well as the Spirit Committee. As stated in the 1963 Tabula, “In these two areas he displayed a desire to raise the extra-curricular life of the Academy.” He also lettered in football and track. For decades, Charlie has been a class agent and a loyal contributor to Episcopal. He was a key member on his class’ 25th & 50th Reunion Committee. In 1999, he was elected to the Alumni Board of Managers, serving for eight years before being elected to president, and thereby becoming a member of the EA Board of Trustees from 2005-07. Charlie has also been an active member of the EA Athletic Hall of Fame Committee since its inception in 2000.
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Connections
However, Charlie’s most memorable and enduring contribution to EA has been in his role as master of ceremonies for the Alumni Awards programs since 2005. Charlie was actually the impetus behind combining the originally separate events and awarding Episcopal’s traditional awards at the same ceremony as the Athletics Hall of Fame inductions. As emcee for each of the Alumni Awards programs (11 in total since 2005), he has communicated and coordinated with individual awardees and team representatives in order to prepare biographies and remarks. As emcee, Charlie maintained an air of celebration and honor for each awardee.
