Rosen Hotels & Resorts’ new CEO Frank Santos vowed Tuesday to sustain the vision of the company’s late founder, ruling out a sale of the business and pledging to continue its much-lauded commitment to charitable giving.

Santos, a longtime associate of founder Harris Rosen, will take the leadership reins. His promotion comes about a week after Rosen’s death.

“He left me with pretty clear directions of what the future would look like,” said Santos, who worked with Rosen for nearly four decades. “We have no intention, and definitely not under my watch would any of our properties be sold.”

Rosen’s charitable foundations will also be fully supported, Santos announced.

Rosen died Nov. 25 at the age of 85. The hospitality titan opened his first hotel in 1974, purchasing a 256-room Quality Inn on International Drive. Over the decades, Rosen’s empire grew to become Florida’s largest independent hotel chain with seven properties and more than 6,300 rooms. The company employs more than 4,000 people.

Harris Rosen, Orlando hotel and philanthropic titan, dies at 85

Aside from his business acumen, Rosen left a mark on Central Florida with his philanthropic spirit. He is the namesake of the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. In 2002, he donated 20 acres near his Rosen Shingle Creek hotel, along with $10 million to start the campus.

Rosen recruited Santos in 1985 to become his chief financial officer, a job Santos held for almost 39 years.

The two worked on Rosen’s business and community ventures, including a program to provide free preschool education and college and vocational scholarships to children in the Tangelo Park and Parramore neighborhoods. According to the company, more than 500 Tangelo Park and Parramore students have received full scholarships to college through the program.

Rosen and Santos also collaborated on RosenCare, an employee health care program with no deductibles and 90% of prescriptions available at zero cost.

David A. Odahowski, president and CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, said he’s excited Rosen Hotels won’t be sold, and Santos will lead the company. Santos is highly regarded for his generosity and business skills, he said.

“He has a great heart for the community,” said Odahowski, who worked with Rosen and Santos on charitable ventures. “That’s great news and it builds upon the philanthropic tradition here in Central Florida.”

Santos expects expansions planned for the company’s flagship Rosen Shingle Creek and Rosen Centre on International Drive to proceed. The projects had been put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We look forward to continuing to build our footprint here in Central Florida — not only for our hotels and for our brand but also for all of the other projects that we are continually involved with here in Orlando,” Santos said.