William W. McCarten
William W. McCarten is executive Chairman and a member
of our Board of Directors. Mr. McCarten has served as
Chairman and as a member of our Board of Directors since
our formation in 2004. Mr. McCarten also served as Chief
Executive Officer from 2004 through September 1, 2008.
Mr. McCarten worked for the Marriott Corporation, or
Marriott International, Inc., and its related entities
for over 25 years until January 2004. Among his many
positions during those 25 years, Mr. McCarten served as
the Chief Executive Officer of HMSHost Corporation,
formerly Host Marriott Services Corporation, a publicly
held developer and operator of restaurant and retail
concessions in travel and entertainment venues listed on
the New York Stock Exchange from 1995 to 2000. In
addition, Mr. McCarten served as non-executive Chairman
of HMSHost Corporation from 2000 to 2001.
Prior to joining Marriott, Mr. McCarten was an
accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co. from 1970 to 1979.
Mr. McCarten received his B.S. in Accounting from the
McIntire School of Commerce at the University of
Virginia in 1970, and he served on the Advisory Board of
the McIntire School from 1981 to 1996.
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Daniel J. Altobello
Daniel J. Altobello is an independent member of our
Board of Directors. Mr. Altobello has served on the
Board of Directors since 2004.
Mr. Altobello has been Chairman of Altobello Family
LP since 1991. Mr. Altobello also served as chairman of
the Board of Directors of Onex Food Services, Inc., the
parent corporation of Caterair International, Inc. and
LSG/SKY Chefs from 1995 to 2001. From 1989 to 1995, Mr.
Altobello was the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and
President of Caterair International Corporation. He
currently serves on the Board of Directors of JER
Investors Trust, Inc., MESA Air Group and Friedman,
Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. In addition, Mr. Altobello
serves on the Advisory Board of Thayer Capital Partners.
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W. Robert Grafton
W. Robert Grafton is an independent member of our Board
of Directors and serves as our Lead Director. Mr.
Grafton has served on our Board of Directors since 2004.
Mr. Grafton is a retired certified public accountant.
He retired from Andersen Worldwide S.C. in 2000.
Andersen Worldwide provided global professional auditing
and consulting services through its two service
entities, Arthur Andersen and Andersen Consulting. Mr.
Grafton joined Arthur Andersen in 1963 and was elected a
member of the Board of Partners of Andersen Worldwide in
1991. Mr. Grafton was elected Chairman of the Board of
Partners in 1994 and served as Managing Partner—Chief
Executive from 1997 through 2000. Mr. Grafton serves on
the Board of Directors of Carmax Inc., a publicly traded
company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where he
also serves as Chairman of the Audit Committee.
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Maureen L. McAvey
Maureen L. McAvey is an independent member of our Board
of Directors. Ms. McAvey has served on our Board of
Directors since 2004.
Ms. McAvey is the Executive Vice President,
Initiatives Group at the Urban Land Institute, or ULI,
in Washington, DC, where she has worked in various
positions since 2001. ULI is a premier research and
education organization within the real estate and land
use industry. Ms. McAvey was a member of the Board of
Trustees of ULI from 1995 to 2001. Prior to joining ULI,
from 1998 to 2001, Ms. McAvey was Director, Business
Development, for Federal Realty Investment Trust, an
owner and manager of retail developments and mixed-use
developments and a publicly traded company listed on the
New York Stock Exchange. Ms. McAvey has also served as
the Director of Development for the City of St. Louis, a
cabinet level position in the Mayor’s office and she was
Executive Director of the St. Louis Development
Corporation. Prior to working for the City of St. Louis,
Ms. McAvey led the real estate consulting practices in
Boston for Deloitte & Touche and Coopers & Lybrand. Ms.
McAvey directed the west coast operations of Carley
Capital Group, a national development firm and also has
experience as a private developer. Ms. McAvey holds two
masters degrees, one from the University of Minnesota
and one from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University
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Mark W. Brugger
Mark W. Brugger is our Chief Executive Officer and a
member of our Board of Directors. Mr. Brugger served
as our Executive Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer and Treasurer from our formation in 2004
through September 1, 2008.
Previously, Mr. Brugger served as Vice
President—Project Finance for Marriott International,
Inc. from 2000 to 2004. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Brugger
served as Vice President—Investment Sales of
Transwestern Commercial Services, formerly the Carey
Winston Company. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Brugger was the
Land Development Director for Coscan Washington, Inc.
Mr. Brugger received a Juris Doctorate from American
University School of Law in 1995 and a B.A. from the
University of Maryland at College Park in 1992.
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Gilbert T. Ray
Gilbert T. Ray is an independent member of our Board of
Directors. Mr. Ray has served on our Board of Directors
since 2004.
Mr. Ray was a partner in the law firm of O’Melveny &
Myers LLP until his retirement in 2000. He practiced
corporate law for almost three decades, and has
extensive experience with corporate and tax exempt
transactions, as well as international finance. Mr. Ray
is a member of the Board of Directors of Advance Auto
Parts, Inc., Watson Wyatt & Company Holdings and IHOP
Corp., each a publicly traded company listed on the New
York Stock Exchange. In addition, Mr. Ray is a member of
the Board of Directors of Automobile Club of Southern
California and Sierra Monolithics, Inc. Mr. Ray is also
a trustee of SunAmerica Series Trust, Seasons Series
Fund, The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes
Foundation, and St. John’s Health Center Foundation.
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John L. Williams
John L. Williams is our President, Chief Operating
Officer and a member of our Board of Directors. Mr.
Williams has served in these capacities since 2004.
Mr. Williams worked for the Marriott Corporation, or
Marriott International, Inc., and its related entities
for over 25 years until he resigned to help form
DiamondRock in 2004. Mr. Williams most recently served
as Executive Vice President of North American Hotel
Development for Marriott International.
From 1991 to 1992, Mr. Williams, while on a leave of
absence from Marriott, served as the Chief Acquisition
Executive for Lodging Opportunities, the initial lodging
fund sponsored by the Thayer organization. Prior to
joining the Marriott Corporation, Mr. Williams was a
senior consultant with Laventhal and Horwath.
Mr. Williams received a B.S./B.A . from Denver
University with a major in Hotel and Restaurant
Management and a B.A. in American Studies from Denver
University in 1973. In addition, Mr. Williams performed
graduate coursework at the University of Missouri at
Kansas City with a concentration in finance.
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