“Dick’s presence has immeasurably enriched New Hampshire,” said PSU President Sara Jayne Steen. “When he speaks of New Hampshire, it is with a joy that inspires others.”

Hamilton has more than 50 years of experience in the tourism industry, including 35 years as CEO of the White Mountains Attractions Association. He was the founder and first executive director of SKI 93 and a founder of the New Hampshire Travel Council, which he chaired for 10 years.

Hamilton was born in North Conway and worked as a bellhop and then assistant manager at the Eastern Slope Inn. At the inn, Hamilton met Manager Peter Pinkham who, he says, “demonstrated true acts of hospitality. He got to know the clientele. He would meet people at the door and greet them by name, ask about their family. He shared hospitality with the guests.” That influence stayed with Hamilton as he moved through the tourism ranks in the years that followed. “I cannot tell you how much fun I had during my 50 years in the industry—it was fun going to work,” he said.

“Dick understood the huge economic impact of tourism on the state and convinced others of that impact, educating politicians and business owners alike,” said Steve Barba, PSU executive director of university relations and former president and managing partner of The Balsams Grand Hotel in Dixville Notch. “New Hampshire was once 50th in the nation in state support of tourism but attributed 25 percent of the state’s general fund revenue to the industry. Now we fall into the middle of that range and every state dollar invested returns $8 to the general fund, thanks to Dick. There is no one more important in the history of New Hampshire tourism than Dick Hamilton,” Barba said.

Hamilton thought he’d work in the ski industry when he returned to New Hampshire from Michigan in 1970, and he was hired to run SKi 93. Ski 93 was the first tourism venue in New Hampshire to promote both cross country and downhill skiing, promoting its four member ski areas together.

Hamilton says the tourism industry really came together during the gasoline crisis in 1973. Like other states, New Hampshire adopted alternating even and odd days for stations to serve customers based on the car’s license plate. But the Governor Meldrim Thomson closed the stations on Sunday. Seeing how detrimental that move would be for tourism, Hamilton called “a few people” to meet at the Highway Hotel formerly in Concord. Many more than he invited showed up, filling the meeting room, the lobby and spilling out into the parking lot.

That was the first time all these competing businesses had come together to solve a problem. Hamilton was of the opinion that “a rising tide floats all boats” and stressed the opportunities in collaborative work.
Together, the group was able to convince the governor that New Hampshire gas stations had to be able to promise tourists gas for their trip home if they expected them to come ski and spend time in New Hampshire, and the stations opened on Sunday.

At White Mountain Attractions, Hamilton followed the same collaborative path. “We needed to pass tourists around to each other to hike the mountains and enjoy the lakes and ski areas,” he said. “We created a short film narrated by Lowell Thomas Jr. that played across the United States.”

With a few colleagues, Hamilton founded the New Hampshire Travel Council to lobby for tourism in New Hampshire. He is chair of the Department of Resources and Economic Development Advisory Board, and the Department of Travel and Tourism Development Joint Promotional Committee, and served for many years as chair of the N.H. Scenic Byways Council,
Hamilton says his current fascination is with developing a legacy site for the Old Man of the Mountains along Franconia Notch. He says, “He was my guy,” and admits that every night as he drove up through the Notch on his way home he said, “Goodnight, Boss.” The project will be achieved by private fundraising.

Hamilton predicts a bright future for tourism in New Hampshire. “We have such a variety of tourism opportunities here. New Hampshire is what people even decades ago were thirsty for—the experience of the outdoors. We have it all—mountains, ocean, history, low taxes…”

Throughout the years, Hamilton used his instincts to make people aware of the importance of tourism and bring them together. “I got ideas, and just acted on them. Damn the torpedoes,” he said.

For more information about this release, contact Bruce Lyndes, PSU Media Relations Mgr., (603) 535-2775 or blyndes@plymouth.edu

Leo Sandy is the coordinator of the school psychology graduate degree program and parenting education certificate program, oversees the undergraduate peace and justice studies minor, and is a consulting school psychologist. Since 1971, Sandy has taught courses on a variety of topics, including human development, counseling and school psychology, psychological assessment, consultation, parenting, diversity, war and peace, and civil society. He is also an instructor for the Pakistani Educational Leadership Project summer institute, hosted by PSU and funded by the US Department of State.

He has published numerous articles in journals such as the Peace Chronicle, the International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities and Nations, Academic Leader, the New Hampshire Journal of Education, and the International Journal of Learning. In addition, Sandy has published several articles in the New Hampshire School Psychologists Protocol, TESOL Matters, Phi Delta Kappa Newsletter, and Life Positive Plus.

Sandy is a frequent presenter at regional, national, and international conferences, and is a member of organizations including the American Counseling Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the North Atlantic Regional Association of Counselor Education and Supervision, the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, Counselors for Social Justice, International Alliance of Teacher Scholars, Inc., the New Hampshire Association of School Psychologists, New Hampshire Peace Action, Veterans for Peace, Inc., and the Peace and Justice Studies Association. Sandy is on the executive board of Phi Delta Kappa and a member of the New Hampshire State Department of Education School Psychology Advisory Council. He is also a volunteer parent educator for inmates within the New Hampshire Department of Corrections and is a column writer for the Laconia Daily Sun.

Dick Hamilton, of Littleton, NH, has more than 50 years of experience in the travel and tourism industry, including 35 years as CEO of the White Mountains Attractions Association, from which he recently retired. He was the first executive director of SKI 93 and is the founder of the New Hampshire Travel Council. He currently serves as the chair of the New Hampshire Scenic Byways Council, the chair of the Department of Resources and Economic Development Advisory Board, the chair of the Division of Travel and Tourism Development Joint Promotional Committee, a member of the Old Man of the Mountain Legacy Fund, vice president of the Old Man of the Mountain Museum, a member of New Hampshire Travel and Tourism Development Advisory Council, a board member of the Flying Yankee Restoration Group, and a member of the Littleton Chamber of Commerce. He also served 14 years as a member of the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Community Technical College system (now Community College System of New Hampshire).

For more information read the full press release.

Nancy Puglisi ’81G serves as the director of PSU’s Personal Approaches to Transformation and Healing (PATH) and Organizational Approaches to Transformation and Healing (OATH) programs, and is an adjunct graduate faculty member who teaches courses in PSU’s MEd, MBA, EdD and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) programs. She also directs Faculty and Staff Wellness, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and organizational transformation programs for 4,300 faculty and staff members employed by the University System.

“Nancy is one of our success stories and has done a huge amount for the University over the years,” says George Tuthill, interim associate vice president of the College of Graduate Studies.”She is emblematic of what we do here in the College of Graduate Studies. She made a dramatic career change with her graduate studies at PSU and ended up in her current position with the University System of New Hampshire, where she has been highly successful.”

For more information read the full press release.