To Regynald Washington ’74, it doesn’t matter if a customer orders a burger and fries poolside or filet mignon
with garlic mashed potatoes in a chandeliered dining room. As chairman of the powerful National Restaurant Association, the FIU alumnus cares only that the multibillion-dollar industry lives up to the expectations of those who patronize it.

“When it’s done right, it’s wonderful,” says Washington of eating out. The key rests with the provider’s commitment
to quality and service, irregardless of how simple or fancy the environment, he explains.

At 49, Washington speaks with an authority born of hard work and realworld experience. A graduate of FIU’s
School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Washington has devoted nearly his entire lifetime to honing the
skills that have put him at the top of his field.

Currently the vice president and general manager for Burbank, Californiabased Disney Regional Entertainment,
Washington traces his professional roots to his early-teen years in the Florida Keys. Looking to supplement the weekly
allowance he received from his parents, both educators, the enterprising Washington began taking odd jobs as a
busboy and kitchen worker at various eateries and, eventually, bellman and front-desk clerk at a local resort.
Mentored by the latter’s “very polished” general manager, he set his sights on a career in hospitality.

Highly motivated and short on cash, Washington earned an associate’s degree at 19 from Miami-Dade College and proceeded—back when FIU’s academic calendar was divided into four equal quarters—to complete
in a single year the additional 100 credit hours he needed for a bachelor’s degree. All the while, he worked a fulltime
night job at Howard Johnson’s, where he balanced the books, and served a required internship on weekends
at the Hotel Fontainebleau. Not surprisingly, within two years of graduating he was general manager of a full-service restaurant, the youngest to hold that position in his employer’s chain of 100.

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