Anthony P. Cawdron, Westwood House Manager ~ Event coordinator ~ Adjunct HTM Faculty, Purdue University
Guest Speaker for ECE 400, Spring 2012
Biography
Anthony Cawdron is the Events Coordinator at ‘Westwood’, the Purdue President’s official residence.
Anthony was born in northern England, and traveled extensively with his family, as a child, growing up in the Far East, most notably Singapore and Hong Kong. On their return to England the family lived in Oxford, his mother’s family home where Anthony completed his high schooling.
Once graduated from high school Anthony decided that a career in hospitality was probably his vocation, the introduction to travel, dining and hotels at an early age was certainly a major reason for this. To that end he studied at Cassio College in Watford, north of London, and then following a year’s internship in Switzerland finished his undergraduate degree at Brookes University in Oxford.
During his time at Oxford, Anthony had the opportunity to work part-time at Blenheim Palace, (birthplace of Winston Churchill) about 10 miles from Oxford in the historic town of Woodstock. Upon completion of his degree Anthony returned to service with the Duke of Marlborough and his family. With plenty of private house service experiences under his belt, Anthony then moved south of London to Sutton Place, the former home of John Paul Getty, now owned by an American billionaire to house his vast modern art collection. Here Anthony was in charge of both the private side of the house and oversaw major events when figures from the classical entertainment world were performing at the house. These artistes included Andre Previn, Jesse Norman, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Nigel Kennedy, the Brodsky String Quartet and so on. Sutton Place also gave him the opportunity to meet and work with several members of the Royal Family, including Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Prince Philip and the late Queen Mother.
Following his three years at Sutton Place, Anthony returned to the commercial side of hospitality, managing a restaurant and operating the off-site catering division of a Michelin-starred East Anglian Inn. While working at Le Talbooth he received a call asking him to try joining the faculty of a small hotel school in Switzerland. He agreed, and in November 1986 he joined Hotelconsult based in Brig Switzerland. In the three years he worked with Hotelconsult he taught Restaurant Management, Beverage Management and Foodservice techniques at all three of their Brig, Lax, and Le Bouveret campuses.
During his tenure in Switzerland a visiting US Dean, carrying out an accreditation study, suggested a faculty exchange and in January 1990 that came to fruition when Anthony traveled to Ames, Iowa for a year working in hospitality extension & teaching in the RHIM department at Iowa State University. Upon completion of his year, Anthony decided to stay on, and enrolled in the graduate program within the hospitality department. He completed his graduate work in the summer of 1992. During the first year of President Jischke’s tenure at Iowa State, Anthony had occasion to assist with several dinners hosted at the president’s home. In the summer of 1992 he took on the role of Event Coordinator at The Knoll with Patty and Martin Jischke.
Many events, and several years, later when the opportunity arose (and was accepted) by the Jischke’s to make the move to Purdue and West Lafayette, they asked Anthony to consider making the transition also. Following a six-month trial period he agreed to stay on, and continues to act as the Westwood Event Coordinator. He also teaches business etiquette and advanced service courses in the Hospitality and Tourism Management department here at Purdue.
