Regularly during the school year, the Dean hosts roundtable discussions with prominent guests who have utilized their law degrees in a variety of nontraditional ways. Over lunch with a small group of students, guests speak autobiographically about their work experiences, sharing valuable insight about how they found their chosen path. Please note that the roundtables are informal and off-the-record.
Kenneth S. Siegel ’80, who will be the Dean’s guest on Thursday, January 23, is the Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc, one of the largest hotel and leisure companies in the world. Starwood owns, manages and franchises over 1000 hotels in 100 countries under the St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, Sheraton, W, Four Points by Sheraton, Le Meridien, Aloft and Element brands, as well as Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. Mr. Siegel joined Starwood in 2000. In his role as Chief Administrative Officer, he has responsibility for areas including Global Citizenship, Sustainability, Labor Relations, Facilities, and Compliance. As General Counsel, Mr. Siegel oversees Starwood’s legal and governmental affairs globally and advises the Board of Directors, the Chairman, CEO and management on these matters. Over the past several years, under Mr. Siegel’s leadership, Starwood has launched a number of industry leading initiatives to drive reductions in energy and water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation across the Company’s worldwide system.
During the four years prior to joining Starwood, Mr. Siegel was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Cognizant Corporation and its successor companies. Cognizant, a multinational information services company, was originally comprised of IMS Health Inc., Nielsen Media Research and The Gartner Group. In 1998, Cognizant divested its three unrelated components into two entities, and Mr. Siegel became General Counsel of IMS Health, which included IMS Health and a controlling interest in Gartner. In 1999, IMS Health spun off Gartner in a tax-free transaction Mr. Siegel designed, and he was named General Counsel of Gartner in January 2000.
From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Siegel was a Partner with Baker & Botts LLP. Before that, he served as Senior Partner of O’Sullivan Graev & Karabell LLP where he focused on work for Lotus and Motel 6 as well as major transactional work for private equity and leveraged buyout funds. Mr. Siegel began his career in 1980 as an Associate with Cravath Swaine & Moore.
Mr. Siegel is a member of the New York bar. He is a Trustee of Cancer Hope Network and a director of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation. Mr. Siegel graduated from New York University with a JD degree and received an A.B. degree from Cornell University.
The Dean’s roundtables are open to 18 interested NYU School of Law JD and graduate students. In order to achieve a representational mix of students, we will designate a proportionate number of seats to JD students and graduate students, respectively, to be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtables will begin at 12:30 P.M. in Snow Dining Room. If you would like to attend a roundtable, please sign up in advance by emailing Alexandria Trempe at lexi.trempe@nyu.edu. Please indicate whether you are a JD or graduate student, and whether you have any dietary restrictions.