Nathan J. Breen, JD
Nathan J. Breen teaches Hospitality Law at Lexington College. He is an associate with Howe & Hutton, Ltd. Prof. Breen earned his undergraduate degree from DePaul University and his Juris Doctorate from The John Marshall Law School in 1999. While in school, Mr. Breen served on the editorial board of The John Marshall Law Review as Executive Lead Articles Editor and externed for a judge in the Chancery Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. His legal practice is concentrated primarily in hospitality law and association intellectual property and Internet law, including trademarks, copyrights, domain names, e-commerce, and privacy issues. Prof. Breen also maintains a practice in commercial litigation, contracts, and employment discrimination. He is a
member of the Chicago Bar Association and is former Chair of its Trade and
Professional Associations Law Committee.

Patty Coen, CMM
Patty Coen is an adjunct professor of Event Planning. Ms. Coen received a BS in Business Communication from Rockhurst College and an MBA in Marketing and International Business from the University of Notre Dame. Additionally, she holds a CMM (Certification in Meetings Management) designation from Meeting Professionals International.

Prof. Coen has been in the meetings industry for nine years. She is an independent meeting planner and president/owner of Great Chicago Events, which plans events for groups between 20 and 2000 people. Before starting her own company, she served as associate director of the University of Chicago's Alumni Association and managed the university's annual reunion.

She currently serves on the Board of the Professional Women's Club of Chicago, is a committee member of the Meeting Professionals International Chicago Area Chapter, and a committee member of the Association Forum of Chicagoland.

Kathy Dornhecker
Kathy Dornhecker is the faculty director of the Internship Program, which includes Internship I, Internship II and the Career Seminar courses. She also is the Director of Career Services, an Academic Advisor and the International Student Office's Primary Designated Official.

Lexington College has awarded her the Front Runner Award twice for innovative programming concepts.

Dornhecker holds a master's and a bachelor's degree in communication studies from Governors State University and an associate's degree in liberal arts from Prairie State Community College. At Governors State University, Dornhecker received the Amoco Fellowship Award through the Institute for Public Policy and completed additional coursework in Public Administration.

Dornhecker joined Lexington College in 1993 after several years of working in higher education as a teacher, researcher, and conference coordinator.

Her background in hospitality began with work in the restaurant industry as a high school student and later for upscale catering companies while attending college, gaining a decade of practical experience in the field.

Beth Dugan, M.S.
Beth Dugan teaches Hospitality Management courses at Lexington College. She is the owner and principal writer for Food Write, in Kenosha, WI. She earned her Master of Science in Hotel, Restaurant, and Travel Administration from the University of Massachusetts in 1990. Ms. Dugan has more than 25 years of experience working in the Hospitality Industry, and more than 15 years of experience teaching in this field at the college level. When she isn't teaching at Lexington, she is working on her next publication.

Mary Hunt, MBA, Business and Management Area Coordinator

Mary Hunt is a Business/Management professor at Lexington College. She is pursuing a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the illinois Institute of Psychology. Prof. Hunt earned a master’s in business administration (MBA) with a concentration in marketing from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Wellesley College. She is the co-founder of HomeAdvantage Plus, LLC, a training and consulting firm that offers creative solutions for blending work and personal life with a focus on workplace effectiveness and employee satisfaction.

Prof. Hunt has been with Lexington College since 2002 and enjoys working closely with Lexington students both inside and outside the classroom. With her entrepreneurial and business experience Prof. Hunt has spearheaded the development of the entrepreneurship education initiatives at Lexington College. Her research interests include studying the effective management approaches of women entrepreneurs and owners of hospitality-related firms; in addition, her work focuses on the impact of leadership and communication on the manager-employee relationships in hospitality and service organizations and their consequent impact on the value of human capital within organizations.

Hunt began her career in banking as a product manager for Citicorp Mortgage, Inc. and after completing her master’s degree, she worked as an organizational development manager for a regional hospital. Prior to launching HomeAdvantage, Hunt was a consultant facilitating organizational and human resources solutions for a wide variety of businesses in both service and manufacturing sectors. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Midtown Educational Foundation, a supplementary educational program for Chicago inner-city youth.

Kimberly LaBounty, M.A., CMM
Kimberly LaBounty is an adjunct professor who received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Illinois State University in public relations and communications respectively. She also holds a CMM (Certificate of Meetings Management) designation from Meeting Professionals International.

LaBounty has been in the meetings industry for twelve years, starting her own company in May of 2002. Her clients and experience come primarily from the nonprofit and association arena. Quite often, event services include counsel and assistance in fundraising, marketing and management issues. She has managed a variety of meetings and events throughout the country, in Canada and in Mexico. Her largest event will have a total of approximately 4,500 people this year; her longest conference seven days.

LaBounty is a member of her local chamber of commerce, as well as the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Association of Consultants to Nonprofits. She is also a member of the Chicago Association of Direct Marketers, and serving as conference chair for the 2007 Direct Marketing Conference for Nonprofits, organized by the Direct from the Heart committee.

Stephanie Leese
Stephanie Leese, President of Lexington’s Industry Advisory Board established and instructed the school's Event Planning syllabus in 2000. A hospitality industry expert, Prof. Leese's 23-year tenure includes operational, marketing and sales roles with the Drake Hotel, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Ritz-Carlton Chicago and Omni Hotels and Resorts.

Alongside the hotel arena, Prof. Leese's follows her organizational and artful instincts in event planning. Event production led to event design, when she worked in a prop warehouse to gain a behind-the-scenes understanding of event fundamentals.

Relationship skills positioned Leese as the Director of Development at the Terra Museum of American Art. Her team approach advanced the museum's revenues and posture by leveraging global resources and motivating the staff to run events to entertain the city's civic and corporate dignitaries, international scholars and curators, school groups and visitors from every walk of life.

Prof. Leese serves as the Assistant Chef Concierge and manages VIP guests at the Talbott Hotel in Chicago's Gold Coast, since 2003. She was elected president of the National Concierge Association (NCA) - Chicago Chapter, with the chapter awarded "NCA Chapter of the Year 2006."

Prof. Leese always puts community first, devotedly serving on boards of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago Architecture Foundation, International Visitors Center of Chicago, Junior League of Chicago (co-developed a national award winning non-profit agency pro bono consultancy), and is a Benefit Gala Chair for the Chicago Humanities Festival. At the heart of all she does, Leese is an educator, twice leading a personally developed Communications Course for Chicago Public Schools. She was appointed the City of Chicago's Paris Sister Cities Education Chair and arranged international student exchange programs with the fashion industry.

Prof. Leese's event planning practice reaches milestone proportions through on-site production at the World Cup Soccer Opening Ceremonies, a U.S. Presidential Inauguration, the Golden Gate Bridge 50th Anniversary, City of Chicago's Millennium Celebration, and numerous art and cultural events locally and nationally.

For the 500+ Guest Services nominees of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association (IHLA) 2005 "Stars of the Industry," Prof. Leese was voted one of the top three Finalists.

Michael Majerczyk
Michael Majerczyk is an adjunct faculty in Accounting. After receiving a bachelor's degree in economics, he went on to receive both a M.S. in Accounting and M.A. in Economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Grace Wisowaty
Grace Wisowaty teaches Accounting and Financial Management at Lexington College. She earned an MBA in 1989 from Vanderbilt University, specializing in corporate finance and a BS in psychology from Swarthmore College in 1985. Ms. Wisowaty held a number of directorships, including director of international finance, director of financial systems, and director of sales and marketing analysis for Premier Farnell, an international distributor of electronic components. She has worked in a wide range of roles from product management in distribution to operational analysis for manufacturers.

Prof. Wisowaty's areas of teaching interest include the correct use of financial and operational data in business decision making. She has devised numerous private sectors analyses and proposals concerning productivity and commission programs, operational reorganizations, and improved product pricing models. After her study findings were implemented each company showed improved profitability.