We Are Real Estate!

Greetings from the Institute for Real Estate Studies!  The Spring 2012 semester proved to be another initiative packed period for the Institute and real estate education at Penn State.  

The Semester kicked off with the “Big Event,” literally!  Real estate participated in Smeal’s major selection information session.  The event helped to yield 10 students declaring the real estate option in the newly formed Risk Management major.  These rising juniors have already held two real estate club organizational meetings and have landed real estate internships.  For example, Erin Smith is working with Cushman & Wakefield in East Rutherford, NJ this summer.

The Real Estate Society continues to execute on its plan to engage Alumni.  Over the course the Semester four networking events were held with 115 alumni in attendance.  The regional events were held in Pittsburgh (Feb.), Philadelphia (April), Southern California (April), and Washington DC (May).  Stay tuned for future event announcements.  Please refer to the newsletter article, Real Estate Society – Mission Driven, for additional details.

Our students participated in multiple intercollegiate real estate case competitions.  This Spring, the students participated in the Villanova, National Home Builders Association, and Argus real estate case competitions.  Competing against students from other leading worldwide universities, our students gain valuable exposure to complex investment real estate scenarios and using industry standard software programs.

The Advance Realty Group Lecture Series and Sokolov Family Seminar Series continued a very active speaker circuit.  Combined, nine speakers presented throughout the Spring Semester.  Please refer to the above hyperlinks for greater detail on the presenters.  The Fall 2012 slate of speakers already includes John Gibb, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle and Wenli Li, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.  The Institute also sponsored the first annual Risk Management Symposium on “Risk and Catastrophic Events”.

Finally, as you look to the Fall please consider engagement in Penn State Real Estate in its many forms.  For example, serve as a role model by mentoring a real estate student, participate in recruiting for internship and permanent jobs at the first ever Risk Management Career Expo on September 10th, and network with fellow Penn State real estate professionals at the annual Institute tailgate during the Penn State/Ohio State football weekend on October 27th.  

Please contact me, Rich Button, at rjb366@psu.edu, to explore the many ways to connect!

Sincerely,
Rich
Rich Button ‘86
Assistant Director, Institute for Real Estate Studies