Rocco M. Angelo Legacy

Ask most alumni of the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management who their biggest influence was while studying at FIU and you will probably hear the same name: Rocco M. Angelo. Rocco has been an Associate Dean of the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management since 1982. He previously served as a professor in the school where he not only played an important role as an educator, but also as a mentor — offering advice, guidance and support. To this day, many of those relationships he established with former students continue to flourish.

The Rocco M. Angelo Legacy in Leadership Endowment was started by alumni who believe that Rocco’s decades of service to the School of Hospitality & Tourism Management should be celebrated. There is no doubt that Rocco’s reputation is filled with passion, motivation and desire for excellence. It is these very characteristics that inspired three alumni, in particular, to honor Angelo and the legacy he is sure to leave.

FIU alumni Humberto Cabañas ’76, Eric Pfeffer ’77 and Regynald Washington ’74 are paying homage to the man that molded them as students and helped propel them to become successful professionals within the hospitality industry. Leading the way, Washington and Pfeffer contributed to the Rocco M. Angelo Legacy in Leadership Campaign, where Cabañas later matched both donations, bringing the campaign more than three-quarters of the way to meeting the $1 million goal. The endowment, which will be used for scholarship support, recruitment initiatives for prospective students, alumni engagement efforts, mentoring programs, career services and student enrichment opportunities, “will help educate students for years to come and it will embrace Rocco’s passion for hospitality,” according to Regynald Washington.