Dear Alumni, Board Members and Friends,
I am proud and honored to take over as the chair of what I consider to be the greatest Real Estate Department in the world. Our alums, friends, students and colleagues make this department truly second to none.
Many thanks are due to Abdullah Yavas, who moved us forward on many fronts as chair over the past six years. He made key hires, increased our governance role within the school, expanded the Global Real Estate Masters Program and oversaw a doubling of undergraduates in the program. On a broader level, UW-Madison is now in a more stable financial position. Chancellor Rebecca Blank is optimistic and happy about the progress being made. We continue to search for a new Dean of the Business School, where Barry Gerhart is doing a great job as the Interim Dean.
Welcome to our New Faculty and Staff
We are extremely excited to bring on four new staff members who will be great contributors to the Wisconsin Real Estate Program.
- Mark Eppli joined the teaching and leadership team at the Graaskamp Center in August after serving as Interim James H. Keyes Dean of Business Administration from 2012 to 2015 and as a Professor of Finance and Bell Chair in Real Estate at Marquette University. In his new position as Director, Eppli will expand the Center’s role in applied commercial real estate research and its dissemination to industry groups, government organizations, academia, and among our students. He will also lead the charge on Masters degree program initiatives. We want to recognize and especially thank the Wisconsin Realtors Association and the Wisconsin Real Estate Alumni Association for their leadership in helping us convince Mark to return to Madison.
- Yongheng Deng has been named the John P. Morgridge Distinguished Chair in Business at the Wisconsin School of Business. He joined the Department in January 2018. His research addresses a wide variety of issues in real estate finance and urban economics, where much of his more recent focus has been on housing and mortgage market development in China.
- Alina Arefeva joined the Department of Real Estate faculty in June after previously working as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Finance at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. She brings great expertise in real estate economics and housing markets research, and will help us continue to facilitate connections with students, real estate professionals and policymakers.
- Genie Trewyn joins us as the Graaskamp Center’s new Assistant Director. Genie previously worked for the Wisconsin BBA Program for 10 years, serving as Assistant Director of Employer Relations for BBA Career Services since 2013 where she helped coordinate an on-campus recruiting program that brought over 600 organizations to the Wisconsin School of Business last year.
Updates and New Initiatives
We want to share the exciting and innovative initiatives that are in the works as we continue to look for ways to elevate the Wisconsin Real Estate Program:
- Launch the Real Estate MS in 2019. In addition to undergrads from the Wisconsin School of Business and UW-Madison, we hope to tap into undergraduates from outside the Wisconsin School Business School, as well as international students from Europe and especially Asia.
- Develop and launch a new Private Equity initiative, which is currently moving forward into the concrete planning stages.
- Create an undergraduate honors program.
- Investigate the possibility of developing a real estate certificate summer program.
- Broaden the Applied Real Estate Investment Track (AREIT) to include an MS degree in addition to the current MBA track.
- Consider forming a Board of Visitors, which has worked well for other UW departments and centers.
We are extremely grateful for all your support, and all of us here in Madison are excited about the future of the Wisconsin Real Estate Program. We have a great team, terrific students and excellent alumni, board members and friends!
On Wisconsin!
Tim Riddiough
Professor and James A. Graaskamp Chair
Chair, Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics
Univerisity of Wisconsin – Madison
Wisconsin School of Business
975 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706
608-262-3531
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