John E. Graf
President & CEO, Priory Hospitality Group
john@thepriory.com
John Graf is one of the owners, and serves as President & CEO of, the Priory Hospitality Group, a developer, owner and operator of boutique hotels and unique catered event spaces in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. On the North Shore, PHG's physical properties include the 42-room Priory Hotel located in a former monastery, and the adjacent large (350 guest) Grand Hall at the Priory, a unique event venue adapted from a historic Roman Catholic church. In Shadyside, PHG owns and operates the Mansions on Fifth Hotel, which offers 22 guest rooms and plays host to many catered events in a converted Pittsburgh robber-baron’s former mansion.
PHG also boasts two service provider arms: Priory Hotel Management, LLC, which provides hotel management services to non-PHG owned hotels, and Priory Hotel Consulting, LLC, which provides consulting services to both independent and nationally branded hotels and hotel developers.
As President and CEO of the organization, John oversees the strategic functions of the Priory Hospitality Group, as well as overall corporate functions such as sales, marketing, and finance.
John has also received industry recognition for Priory Hospitality Group’s financial success as well as for its charitable works. In November 2018, John was recognized with a hospitality Lifetime Achievement Award by the Pennsylvanian Restaurant l& Lodging Association. John has won numerous other industry and business awards and recognitions, including being recognized by Ernst & Young as a finalist for its Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2013.
John has likewise served on a number of charity and other non-profit boards of directors, including serving for a year as the state-wide Chair of the Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association in 2016. John is a founding board member of WORK, an organization devoted to helping the poorest of the poor in Haiti and other challenged countries emerge from poverty by providing access to good, dignified jobs. John has also served as a board member of the National Aviary since 2008. Prior non-profit commitments include board memberships with Homeless Children’s Education Fund and with the Community Advisory Board for WQED Multimedia.
Prior to joining the Priory Hospitality Group full time in 2002, John was a practicing attorney for over 12 years, including three years as an adjunct faculty member at the Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business.