Pittsburgh resident LeeAnn Dinger is the director of operations at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh Area/Beaver Valley. This is a brand new facility and has helped LeeAnn fulfill her goal of opening a hotel. She is constantly working to advance her career and aspires to be a full-service hotel general manager in the future. Dinger oversees all food and beverage operations as well as the rooms side of the hotel business in her current position. Her background is in food and beverage and she has also trained in housekeeping, front desk and accounting. LeeAnn has been with Hilton for nearly 11 years and has been promoted 3 times.
While a student at Gannon, Dinger was able to secure an internship in the sales department at the Bel-Aire Clarion Hotel and Conference Center. While there, she also served in their banquet department. These experiences directly impacted her career choices and she notes, “Without my banquet serving position in Erie, I would not have qualified for the…position I accepted upon graduation.”
As a student, Dinger was involved with Activities Programming Board (APB). She recommends that all students get involved in something, whether that be a sport, a club, or a program, noting “APB was an excellent organization for me. I met two of my best friends within APB and was able to plan all kinds of fun activities with them!” Dinger’s other advice to students is to find a way to jumpstart your career while you are a student. In her industry, experience is everything and she advocates for students to soak up all they can in the professional world so that those experiences can speak volumes on your resume.
Dinger has been married to her husband Michael since 2014. Together they enjoy traveling, reading and hiking. They hope to start a family in the future and are currently the proud parents of Max, a high-energy, super-lovable beagle-husky mix.
“Thank you, Gannon, for being my home for four years and being a welcoming place I can still come back to.”
Photo Caption: LeeAnn and Michael Dinger on vacation in Italy, 2019