John Fitzpatrick is president and CEO of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, North America. He began his impressive career almost thirty years ago with a hotel management course in Ireland, followed by the prestigious hotel management course offered at UNLV in Las Vegas. He then returned to Ireland to work at the family hotels in Dublin and Bunratty, before moving back to the U.S. in 1991.

John currently serves as Chairman of the Hotel Association of NYC, and as Secretary/Treasurer for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. He is on the boards of both the American Ireland Fund and the Ireland-US Council. John received the 2002 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and in 2008, he was recognized for his contributions to the peace process in Northern Ireland with an honorary OBE. In July 2011, Queen’s University Belfast conferred upon John an honorary Doctorate of Science in Economics.

John is active in a number of philanthropic activities that aid children in need and advance the peace process in Northern Ireland. In 1993 he founded the Eithne and Paddy Fitzpatrick Memorial Foundation in memory of his parents. The foundation has generated more than $1.3 million for charities dedicated to such causes.

Click HERE to read an interview with John about his time on Secret Millionaire, an Irish television show that features him undercover in Dundalk, searching for effective and deserving charities and community groups in some of Ireland’s poorest neighborhoods.