
Mr. Hasu P. Shah is the Chairman Emeritus of Hersha Hospitality Trust. Prior to this role, Mr. Shah served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and a Trustee of Hersha Hospitality Trust since the Company’s inception in May 1998, until his retirement in 2021. Additionally, he served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in 2005. He is also a Senior Partner of the Hersha Group of Companies, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hasu Shah began his career in lodging with the purchase of a single hotel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1984. Over the last 36 years, he has developed, owned, or managed over 110 hotels across the Eastern United States and led other businesses in general construction, purchasing/design, hotel management, and the operation of several assisted living facilities in Pennsylvania. He has been recognized for his business accomplishments and his philanthropic endeavors, including the Entrepreneur of the Year award given by Ernst & Young LLP and the Central Penn Business Journal Hall of Fame award for lifetime achievements in both business and philanthropy.
Mr. Hasu Shah and his wife, Hersha, are active members of the local community and remain involved with charitable initiatives in India and around the World. In 2010, Mr. and Mrs. Shah were honorably bestowed with the National United Way Tocqueville Society award, the highest honor given for philanthropic work across the country. Mr. Hasu Shah has been an active Rotarian for more than 30 years and continues to serve as a trustee of several community service and spiritual organizations including VRAJ Hindu Temple and the India Heritage Research Foundation(IHRF). As the President of IHRF, Mr. Shah, along with more than a thousand scholars, contributed to the creation of an 11-volume Encyclopedia of Hinduism, each volume is in excess of 600 pages.
Mr. Hasu Shah received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Tennessee Technical University and obtained a master’s degree in public administration from Pennsylvania State University, which named him as a Fellow. He also received an honorary Doctorate of Public Service (DPS) degree from Harrisburg Area Community College, as well as an Honorary Doctorate degree in Humane Letters from Central Penn College to recognize his significant contributions to the community and business alike. He is an alumnus of the Owner and President’s Management program at Harvard Business School.