Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
Denise Marie Fugo, FMP
Denise Marie Fugo, FMP, Chairman & CEO of Sammy's, headquartered in Cleveland, OH, is a Past Chairman of the Board of the National Restaurant Association. She has served on numerous board committees during her board service, including Nominating, Membership Development, Audit, Pensions & Benefits, Strategic Plan Oversight Group, Media, Marketing and Communications, Government Affairs and Public Policy and the Association's Executive Committee.
Ms. Fugo was elected to the Board of Directors in 1991 and ascended through the officers' chairs, having served as its treasurer and vice chairman. She was the elected Chairman of the Board from May 2000 to May 2001, during which time she represented the Association in numerous forums as the chief advocate and spokesperson for the restaurant industry.
Fugo is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and its Treasurer for 2011.
Fugo and her husband, Ralph DiOrio, operate Sammy's, specializing in banquet, concession and restaurant management for cultural, academic and corporate venues throughout northeast Ohio. A 2010 licensing agreement with Sammy's by Heathland.com will allow expansion throughout the continental United States. Fugo's civic activities include her participation as a member of the board of Cuyahoga Community College Foundation.
Among the awards Fugo has received is Crain's Cleveland Business News' Award of the Year for Business Excellence (1990). Under her leadership, Sammy's has received the prestigious Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA) Award, the Wine Spectator's Award for Excellence, Cleveland Magazine's Number One People's Choice Award (1987-89), Travel Holiday's Award (1988) and Nation's Restaurant News' Fine Dining Hall of Fame Award (1987). In 2003 the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management Department of Pennsylvania State University named her the recipient of its Distinguished Executive of the Year Award. Most recently the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation named her to its distinguished College of Diplomats in 2010.
Fugo holds a M.B.A. degree from the University of Chicago and a B.S.C. degree from Ohio University, Athens, OH.
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