President and Chief Operating Officer, Las Vegas Sands Corp.
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Biography
Mr. Leven has served on the Las Vegas Sands Corp. Board of Directors since 2004. On March 11, 2009, he became the company’s president and chief operating officer and assumed responsibility for the overall operations of the company’s U.S. and international locations.
Mr. Leven is a veteran hospitality executive with more than 50 years of experience in the business and a distinguished and well-recognized record of success. He was formerly president and chief executive officer of US Franchise Systems, Inc., the company he founded in 1995, which developed and franchised the Microtel Inns & Suites and Hawthorn Suites hotel brands. He was previously the president and COO of Holiday Inn Worldwide, president of Days Inn of America, and president of Americana Hotels. He has also served on the board of directors of Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hersha Hospitality Trust and is currently a trustee of the Marcus Foundation.
In addition to being a hotel industry icon and one of franchising’s most innovative leaders, Mr. Leven has served many industry organizations throughout his career. He co-founded the Asian American Hotel Owners Association, which started with 12 members in 1989 and now has more than 9,300 members, who combined own more than 22,000 hotels representing approximately $60 billion in property value. He is also the former international president of the Hotel Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
Mr. Leven is a recipient of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers Lifetime Achievement Award and was previously named to HSMAI’s Hot List of 25 Most Extraordinary Sales & Marketing Minds in Hospitality & Travel. He has also received the American Jewish Committee Selig Distinguished Service Award, UJA Federation of New York Hotel and Hospitality Award, and the Georgia Hospitality & Travel Association Spirit of Hospitality Award. He currently serves as a board member for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas and the Birthright Israel Foundation. Mr. Leven is also a member of the Georgia Aquarium Board of Directors, an institution where he served as chief executive officer prior to taking the reins at Las Vegas Sands.
Mr. Leven is a native of Boston, Massachusetts and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University and Master of Science from Boston University. He has honorary doctorate degrees from Niagara University and Johnson and Wales University. Mr. Leven and his wife, Andrea, have three sons and six grandchildren.