Chatham Fills a Board Seat With a Marriott Operator
Chatham Lodging Trust appointed William P. (Liam) Brown to its board of trustees. The board acted on 10 September 2026 on the recommendation of its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and the company announced the appointment on 14 September. Brown serves as an independent director, effective immediately.
He holds the seat until the 2027 annual meeting of shareholders. He takes a one-time initial grant of 5,000 restricted common shares, plus the compensation Chatham pays its other trustees and committee chairmen, which the company's proxy filed on 31 March 2026 describes. The filing records no arrangement or understanding with any other person on the selection, and no family relationship between Brown and any director or executive officer of the trust.
What He Ran at Marriott
Brown was group president for the United States and Canada at Marriott International from January 2021 until his retirement in June 2026. The role covered the financial management and leadership of Marriott's lodging operations in North and South America, a span the filing puts at more than 6,000 hotels and about 160,000 associates. He joined Marriott in 1989 and led franchising, owner services and the Managed by Marriott select brands in North America from 2012 to 2018.
The Thirty-Year Relationship
Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham's chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said the trust has worked with Brown over the past 30 years. Fisher said the appointment brings insight from operations and from franchisor and franchisee relationships, and that both will help as Chatham works on operating results and capital allocation.
The Other Seats He Holds
Brown has served on the board of EPR Properties since 6 September 2024, where he chairs the Compensation and Human Capital Committee and sits on the Nominating and Company Governance Committee. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
The Trust He Joins
Chatham is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust investing in upscale extended-stay hotels and premium-branded select-service hotels, with common shares on the New York Stock Exchange under CLDT. The trust owns 39 hotels totalling 5,610 rooms and suites across 18 states and the District of Columbia, on its own second-quarter 2026 release. It is headquartered at 222 Lakeview Avenue, West Palm Beach, Florida.
Brown's appointment took effect ten weeks after his Marriott retirement.