Marriott International said its president and managing director of International Lodging, Ed Fuller, will retire from the company on March 31 next year.

Fuller led Marriott’s growth outside the continental US from 16 hotels to more than 550 today in more than 70 countries. Approximately 175 additional hotels are currently under development outside the US.

Having recently published a book about managing growth and change, entitled “You Can’t Lead with Your Feet on the Desk,”  Fuller played an integral role in Marriott’s international growth, and most recently has been focused on guiding Marriott’s operations in the Middle East and Africa in the midst of major regional turbulence.  

Arne Sorenson, Marriott’s president and chief operating officer, said, “We will miss Ed’s insights and tremendous grasp of the industry as we continue the global growth for which he was a powerful advocate. We wish him continued great success as he travels the road ahead.”

Upon retirement, Fuller plans to serve as an adjunct professor at the Paul Merage Graduate School of Business at the University of California Irvine and visiting professor at the Boston University, said a statement from Marriott.

He will also be president of Laguna Strategic Advisors in addition to his continued work with business and charity boards.

Joining the company in 1972, Fuller was appointed chief sales and marketing officer for Marriott Hotels in 1977. He also served as general manager of key hotels in the Northeast US and as regional vice president in the United States, the statement added.

He assumed leadership of Marriott’s international lodging operations in 1991 as senior vice president and managing director, was promoted to executive vice president, and was named president and managing director in 1997.

Fuller graduated in 1968 from Boston University, having also attended Wake Forest University.  He is also completed the Harvard Graduate School of Business Advanced Management Program, and served as a captain in the US Army in Germany and Vietnam, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Army Commendation Medal.

Fuller is a former president and trustee of Boston University’s Alumni Association. He currently serves on the advisory boards of BU’s hotel and business schools, where he is chairman of the Hospitality Board, and was recently appointed vice chairman of the Boston University Board of Overseers.

He is chairman of the advisory board at the University of California Irvine, Merage Graduate School of Business and was recently appointed to the California State University Hospitality industry advisory board, said the Marriott statement.

In 2010, he was named a Commissioner of Travel and Tourism for the State of California and, earlier this year, was named Emeritus Member of the Travel Industry and Tourism Management School Advisory Board at the University of Hawaii, it added.-TradeArabia News Service