Penn State University’s School of Hospitality Management and the Penn State Hotel and Restaurant Society (PSHRS) have named Reggie Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Cvent, the 2025 Hospitality Executive of the Year.
Aggarwal will receive this honor at the 2025 PSHRS Industry Awards and Reception, scheduled for April 8, 2025, at the Nittany Lion Inn among alumni, faculty, students and industry leaders.
“This recognition is a tremendous honor,” Aggarwal said. “The hospitality industry is the backbone of creating memorable experiences and successful events, and Penn State’s esteemed program has consistently been a cornerstone in nurturing new talent and fresh perspectives. Bringing people together is at the heart of what we do at Cvent, and we’re proud to contribute to an industry rooted in service and genuine human connection. Thank you to the Penn State School of Hospitality Management and PSHRS for recognizing our incredible team and the impact they’ve made over the last 25 years.”
In 1999, Aggarwal founded Cvent to make meeting planning easier for his peers in the business community. Since then, the company has become a benchmark for events, and hospitality management technology. Today, Cvent powers millions of events for thousands of organizations, including half of the Fortune 500.
Aggarwal has received numerous recognitions, including being named the No. 1 SaaS CEO by The SaaS Report and Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young. He has been inducted into the Washington Business Hall of Fame and the Business Travel Hall of Fame.
Under Aggarwal’s leadership, Cvent has grown to employ more than 4,800 people and serve over 22,000 customers worldwide. In 2023, the company was acquired by Blackstone for $4.6 billion.
“Our hospitality management majors at Penn State, and especially our students pursuing the entrepreneurship and innovation minor, are inspired by Reggie’s ability to see an opportunity, create a solution to an industry problem, and steward that solution into a global, thriving company,” said Donna Quadri-Felitti, Marvin Ashner endowed director of the Penn State School of Hospitality Management. “He is not only a megastar to those students, but an example our faculty use across our curriculum about the value of tech-enabled, stakeholder-focused hospitality enterprises led by visionaries like Reggie.”
Tom Neely, president of PSHRS, also highlighted Aggarwal’s contributions. “Reggie, as an entrepreneur, is a most excellent example of our industry’s acceptance of new ideas that facilitate new opportunities that truly move to help our industry be better. For over 60 years, we have been honoring those who have elevated our industry to new heights, and Reggie will be a wonderful addition to this pantheon of professionals considered to be some of the greatest in hospitality management” he said.
Aggarwal graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Virginia, a juris doctor degree from Washington and Lee University Law School, and an LLM (post-law degree) from Georgetown University Law School. He also received an honorary doctorate from Southeastern University for contributing to the community.
