Area Managing Director / General Manager
Omni Hotels & Resorts 

Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Series Award Winner
Honored February 2008

John R. “Rusty” Wallace (’82) is the area managing director of seven Omni Hotels, where he brings a vast amount of hospitality expertise. Formerly, he was appointed the general manager of Omni La Mansión del Rio and Mokara Hotel & Spa. He also served as the general manager of the Omni Las Colinas Hotel, which earned recognition on Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List and Reader’s Choice List during his four-year tenure.

A 49-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Rusty began his career as a dishwasher while attending Klein High School in the Houston area. In 1979, he gained his first hotel experience, working as a security guard for the former Shamrock Hilton Hotel. He held this position while also attending the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management.

After earning a Bachelor of Science degree from the College in 1982, he worked within all aspects of the rooms division and was promoted to positions in Miami, Florida; Washington, D.C.; New York City; and Houston, Texas. He assumed his first general manager position in 1991 at the Guest Quarters Hotel in Austin, Texas. In 1998, he was promoted to area managing director and general manager of the Doubletree Hotel at Lincoln Centre. Following the Promus merger with Hilton Hotels in 2000, he was appointed opening general manager of the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Legacy Town Center in Plano, Texas. In 2002, he joined Omni Hotels & Resorts.

Rusty also served as board chair of the San Antonio Hotel & Lodging Association, the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau (SACVB), and Visit San Antonio (VSA). He served on the mayor’s task force to transform SACVB to VSA. Currently, Rusty is a board member of the Texas Hotel Lodging Association (THLA) and serves on the executive leadership team of the American Heart Association in San Antonio.

Additionally, in February 2008, Rusty earned the Dean’s Distinguished Leadership Series Award from the Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership and served on the Dean’s advisory board for the San Antonio campus.

Rusty’s wife of 39 years, Estelia, is a retired Elementary School principal. Their oldest son, Andrew, and his wife, Ciera, live in Portland, Oregon, where Andrew is chief legal counsel for GreenKey Solar. Their son, John Thomas (JT), lives in Houston, where he works for Ethos Energy as a commercial specialist in their steam turbine business.