mbehrendt@ahla.com

Mari Behrendt was named Vice President, Academic programs, for the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) in January 2007. She began working at AHLEI in 1983 as a word processing technician, and joined the sales/marketing department in 1986. There, she worked with academic institutions, including HEPs, GAPs, and international schools.

In 1998, Behrendt was promoted to Manager, Academic Programs, and a year later, to Director of the department. In those roles, she oversaw sales and service to domestic and Canadian post-secondary schools, as well as AHLEI's Distance Learning program. She serves on AHLEI's Curriculum Committee and is a member of AH&LEF's Scholarship Committee.

Before coming to AHLEI, Behrendt, a native of Alpena, Michigan, previously worked at Michigan State University in the Statistics Department. Her post-secondary education includes business classes at Lansing Community College.