Tom Hendrick ('74)
This summer, University of North Florida alumnus Tom Hendrick ('74) made a planned gift through his estate planning to the UNF Coggin College of Business. "I'm really impressed with the growth that they've done here," he said. "Whether they use the money to give 10 scholarships or build another building, it's just fun to give back to the program." This seven-figure commitment will help support the future growth of the University.
In honor of that, we'd like to share an alumni spotlight and a donor spotlight on Hendrick who had the Original Recipe™ for success, transitioning from fast food real estate to the luxury hotel market.
After earning his bachelor's degree in marketing and mathematics at Southeast Missouri State University, Hendrick joined his older brothers in the US Navy and was stationed at the Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Jacksonville. After serving his time, he was honorably discharged and started to explore his future options. The University of North Florida had just launched its master's program, so Hendrick pursued his MBA, funding his tuition by teaching flight lessons, in addition to taking night classes to earn a real estate license.
After graduation, Hendrick joined the real estate realm with his older brother, a commercial broker in Texas representing a handful of fast-food chains. A few years later, KFC offered Tom a role to join the internal team. He became their director of image enhancement, which entailed everything including products, features, uniforms and even the physical structures. He worked with architecture, construction and marketing teams to develop indoor seating and drive-thrus for the restaurants.
Once his mentor left to join Holiday Inn as the head of strategic investments, Hendrick made the switch from restaurants to hotels. Shortly after, he joined one of the largest Marriott franchise developers before moving to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. As the years passed, so did his expertise. He pivoted to luxury properties with Regent International Hotels, Inc., then Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, then Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. To conclude his career, he joined the board of directors for FelCor Lodging Trust where he finished as CIO. Altogether, he has spent over 40 years in the hospitality industry. Although officially retired, he kept his consulting business, TCH Partners, to continue providing his expertise on luxury hotels.
"It's very important to give back," Hendrick said. As a global business owner and military veteran, Hendrick has previously worked with UNF on the creation of two endowments, the Thomas C. Hendrick Endowed Scholarship for Veterans and Study Abroad Endowed Scholarship. He loves seeing the potential of students who can take advantage of the scholarship to pursue their studies, and how often they live successful, balanced lives after graduating. "They're all really bright students, and just to hear their stories of where they come from and what they're doing...I really enjoy that."
