The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation

Established in 1965, The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that provide civic and human services, foster educational achievement, expand opportunities for youth and adults, develop the next generation of hospitality leaders, and lead innovation in health and medicine.

The Marriotts believed that people will be empowered and positive change will result from giving to worthy causes. As a young man, J. Willard experienced this kind of giving on a personal level. He had left school to help on his family’s farm and didn’t have the means to enroll in college. Aaron Tracy, a teacher at Weber College, gave him the support he needed. When J. Willard graduated from Weber, Tracy—then president of the college—shook his hand and said, “Forward, my boy, forward.”

J. Willard graduated from the University of Utah in 1926. He married Alice Sheets in 1927. For the next 58 years, with the help of their sons, J.W. “Bill” Jr. and Richard, they built the company into one of the world’s largest hospitality companies. Today, Marriott International has more than 6,500 properties in 127 countries and territories.

Their Foundation began making donations to the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality in 1997. The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation is a founding donor of UNLV’s Hospitality Hall, a collaborative hospitality industry effort. The state-of-the art Marriott Executive Kitchen in Hospitality Hall is named for this Foundation.