FAIRHOPE, Ala. (Nov. 18, 2025) — The public is invited to attend a free USA by the Bay Eastern Shore Speaker Series event to be held this Thursday, Nov. 20 at 4 p.m. at the University of South Alabama Baldwin County Campus Performance Center in Fairhope. This special talk will feature Kim and Julian MacQueen ’73, who will discuss “Building Innisfree: A Journey of Faith, Vision and Culture in Hospitality.” Seating is limited and online registration is required at SouthAlabama.edu/SpeakerSeries.

Alabama-native Julian MacQueen is founder and chairman of Innisfree Hotels. He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and was honored with the National Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Award.

Julian is a visionary entrepreneur, commercial pilot and highly-successful hotel developer whose hospitality career began in college while working as a busboy in Destin and night auditor at the Admiral Semmes in Mobile. Julian founded Innisfree Hotels after dabbling in hot air balloons and working his way to an executive position with Family Inns of America. The Pensacola-based company now owns and operates a collection of hotels across the Gulf Coast and beyond.

Julian says “work is worship – if it is done in the service to mankind. And hospitality is a way to change the world, one guest at a time.” By these and other principles, Julian has cultivated his team and grown the Innisfree portfolio.

Julian has been married to his wife, Kim MacQueen, for more than four decades. Kim is a former therapist and university instructor and shares in Julian’s passion for adventure and purpose-driven leadership. In 2017, the couple embarked on a global journey they call “Around the World in 80 Stays,” piloting their HondaJet HA-420 to explore how hospitality connects people and cultures.

Julian and Kim are active members of the Bahá’í Faith and have founded impactful and life-changing programs, such as the Independence of the Blind of Northwest Florida, the University of South Alabama MacQueen Alumni Center, the MacQueen School of Hospitality at the University of West Florida, and more.

Recognized for both his hotel management skills and philanthropy, Julian has been awarded the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, 2019 Elvin McCorvey Education Award by NAACP, 2020 Florida Trend 500’s Most Influential Business Leader in Hospitality, and a Circumnavigation Diploma by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

The University of South Alabama’s Eastern Shore speaker series “USA by the Bay” showcases a diverse range of lectures and performances by artists, scholars and industry experts at the USA Baldwin County Campus Performance Center in Fairhope. The address is 111 St James St, Fairhope, AL 36532. Parking is free, and guests will have time to walk over to the Fairhope Lighting of the Trees.