MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Penn State has alumni living all around the world. With the largest dues-paying alumni association in the world — over 177,000 people — you’re likely to find a Penn Stater wherever you go. Many of these Penn Staters are international alumni who come to Penn State, get their education, then return to their home countries.
Others, like Hasu Shah, stick around.
Shah, the owner and proprietor of the Hersha Hospitality Trust — named for his wife and business partner — left India when he was 19 years old. He got his undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee before moving to Pennsylvania.
“It felt very natural to me to have global experiences and study in America,” Shah recalled.
He began working for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, in the Department of Health and Environmental Resources. While there, he decided he wanted to pursue his master's degree.
“It’s something that I always wanted to do, but I could not afford to do school full time,” he said. Over three years, he attended Penn State Harrisburg part time, completing six or seven courses. Finally, the state began a program to offer its employees the ability to take a leave of absence to attend school full time. With only three courses left, Shah took the leave and completed his master's degree in public administration at University Park.
Now, one might wonder how Shah ended up owning a group of hotels.
“I always wanted to run my own business and work for myself,” Shah said. “So for the first ten years of my job with the Commonwealth, I took 10% of both my and my wife’s salary and put it in savings.” Those savings were used to purchase real estate in the Harrisburg area. Within ten years, he had purchased eight homes and four apartments.
This real estate venture proceeded a step further when he decided to start a 125-room hotel in downtown Harrisburg. Shah continued to work for the state while his wife took over running the hospitality business. Under her leadership, their revenue doubled, which allowed Shah to quit his job and help run the hotel full time. Within five years, the Shahs and their partners owned ten hotels.