COVER STORY
ALL
- GA
KURT ALEXANDER LEADS THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL OMNI HOTELS & RESORTS.
By DAVID EISEN
Duke University is one of those places that reflexively whips up emotion. Some bristle at the mere mention of the institution; others fawn over it like a newborn baby. This animus or adoration has less to do with it as an institution of higher learning and everything to do with its wildly successful basketball program, which many despise for not only winning but how they win— and their cloying fandom( the so-called“ Cameron Crazies,” a student body that zealously supports the home team and jeers its rivals with scripted provocations that, many times, are effective in throwing opposing players off their game).
Orchestrating all this was the now-retired Mike Krzyzewski, known affectionately as Coach K, a five-time national champion and all-time winningest men’ s basketball coach— a paragon of success and offeror of wisdom that stretches well beyond the confines of the basketball court.
Which brings us to Kurt Alexander, the fresh-faced president of Omni Hotels & Resorts, who is still on the earlier side of his forties. Don’ t get it confused: Alexander did not play basketball at Duke; his slight build is proof. He did graduate from Duke and for any person in a position of leadership, the question inevitably comes:“ Do you carry any lessons from Coach K into your professional life?” Here, the spirit of Coach K has an almost unwitting effect on Alexander: Like the compulsory portrait of the sitting U. S. president hanging on the walls of government offices, a photo of Coach K adorns his Dallas office. Alexander is quick to say
The 801-room Omni Fort Lauderdale opened in December 2025.
38 hotelsmag. com Jan / Feb 2026