Why We Give: Bob Payne

As it celebrates its 25th anniversary, the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management continues to open doors for its graduates across the hospitality world. Meet the visionary behind it.

By Jeff Ristine

The Donor: Bob Payne (’55), a hotel and restaurant developer, helped shape San Diego’s tourism industry. The longtime San Diego State University supporter and alumnus was also the catalyst behind the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

The Gift: A $1 million contribution to support student awards, industry and academic research, facility enhancements, marketing efforts and more.

WHEN BOB PAYNE SAW EARLY RENDITIONS OF A SIGN OUTSIDE Adams Humanities for the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, he didn’t like what he saw. 

“My name’s too big,” he told Carl Winston, the school director. “Make the School of Hospitality letters bigger, and make my name smaller.”

The humble (and immediately granted) request from a man who helped build the hospitality industry in San Diego didn’t surprise Winston. At inception, Payne provided $1.1 million in seed money for the now internationally recognized school, and his guiding principle ever since has been “be practical, get results and I’ll stay out of your hair,” Winston says. Today the school—currently celebrating its 25th anniversary—awards degrees to some 125 students a year and boasts a 99% job placement rate in the industry.

Despite decades of relevance to the regional economy, SDSU did not have a School of Hospitality and Tourism Management until 1999, when Payne’s cajoling of then-President Stephen Weber on the subject came to fruition within the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.

Payne—who also supports the Parma Payne Goodall Alumni Center—knew the territory as the owner of two San Diego hotels with 800-plus rooms and the developer of a chain of dinner house restaurants. Given the city’s status as an internationally acclaimed tourist destination, the 1955 San Diego State College alumnus knew of an acute need for trained personnel to serve visitors and to handle meetings and events.

“In a community the size of San Diego, it was a big void,” Payne says, “and I’m proud of the fact that Steve Weber recognized that and we got together and started the program.”

An additional $2.4 million contribution in 2010 rebranded it as the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Payne recently kicked in an additional $1 million to support student awards, research, events, facilities and more.

Over its 25 years, the school has grown from a first-year cohort of 13 students to an enrollment of 500, serving an estimated 20% of HTM students statewide, and built deep connections with the industry.

The school also offers two online master’s degrees through SDSU Global Campus, including a meeting and event management degree created in an exclusive collaboration with Meeting Professionals International. A newly reimagined senior-level certificate program in meeting management with MPI updates the curriculum and builds stronger peer connections among industry leaders.

“Bob's vision and enduring generosity made the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management possible. Today, his continued support allows us to invest directly in our students and advance a program that leads the industry and serves our community.”

The program’s 99% overall career placement rate is driven largely by seven to eight well-known companies eager to recruit Payne graduates into management training programs, Winston says. “Most of my students get scooped up in the fall semester,” he adds. 

Among those working-professional graduates is Paris Landen. Since 2021, she has served as the general manager of The Magnolia, a 1,200-capacity performing arts center in El Cajon operated by Live Nation Entertainment. Landen returned to SDSU to complete an HTM degree in 2012 after a few years working in the field. In late February she was coming off an especially busy December and January performance schedule, with legendary groups like War and The Roots, and preparing for a sold-out concert by Latin rock artist Beto Cuevas.

“The main thing I got out of the program is just learning the importance of teamwork in our field dynamic,” says Landen, who considered herself more of an independent type at the beginning of her career. “So much of what I do now is team management, and it just allows me to achieve better success.”

Landen says Payne’s vision “has really helped bring hospitality to another level of respect that didn’t exist before.” 

With Payne’s confidence, the school uses his contributions where they are needed most. That translates into executive-in-residence programs, budgetary help for students who study abroad, an endowed chair for the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming and general program support. 

Winston notes with pride that the average class size in HTM is about 30 students, similar to what might be found at a private school.

“You can’t do that with a state budget,” he says. “You’ve got to have private money to make that happen.” Payne wants his latest contribution to help SDSU make an even bigger splash in the field.

“The new gift is really based on what we need to do to get even greater exposure, larger enrollment in the program,” he says, with the goal of building a stronger national, international and local reputation. 

To establish an endowment or make a donation to SDSU, contact Mary Darling at [email protected].