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For more than 45 years, John Q. Hammons has been an innovator in the hospitality industry. He is recognized for his astute market analysis and his creation of signature-style, full-service hotels featuring atrium lobbies, expansive meeting and convention space, large guest rooms, podium check-in stations, and complete business traveler amenities.
A native Missourian, Mr. Hammons grew up during the Great Depression near Joplin. He earned his degree from Southwest Missouri State University in nearby Springfield and began his professional career as a junior high school teacher.
After serving two years in the military, Mr. Hammons recognized that GIs returning from World War II would need quality housing in which to raise their families. He began constructing the first suburban housing in Springfield in the late 1940s and established a number of real-estate ventures.
Mr. Hammons entered the hotel industry in 1958 and joined with Roy E. Winegardner the following year to develop Holiday Inns.
In addition to his role as Vice Chairman of the Board of Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. (WHI), Mr. Hammons
founded John Q. Hammons Hotels, Inc. in the late 1960s. Today the company is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "JQH" and operates properties nationwide under the Embassy Suites, Renaissance, Radisson, Marriott, and Holiday Inn brands as well as its own signature Plaza brand.
The company owns or manages more than 60 hotels in 22 states and is considered to be the leading independent manager of hotel meeting space in the country.
Mr. Hammons and his wife, Juanita, live in Springfield and remain active in the community, funding the Hammons Heart Institute and Hammons Life Line helicopter for St. John's Regional Health Center; the Hammons Student Center, Hammons Fountains and Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts at Southwest Missouri State University; and the Hammons School of Architecture at Drury College.
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