Real Estate Society
The Real Estate Society is a broad-based initiative by the Institute for Real Estate Studies, Smeal College of Business. It seeks to engage the alumni and friends of Penn State participating in the real estate industry. The Real Estate Society promotes and supports activities among our industry participants and strengthens ties with the university and its students.
Through the active support of the Institute for Real Estate Studies and its industry leading Real estate Advisory Board, the Real Estate Society plays a critical link in networking alumni in the industry and by providing students with internship and permanent placement opportunities. The Real Estate Society fosters interaction among our alumni in real estate, real estate scholars, policy makers, and other societal participants. Through the support of the Real Estate Society administrators, regional networking groups have been formed and will be supported in a number of self sustaining ways through social events, conferences, and speaker venues. Real Estate Society members have access to internationally recognized academic research, newsletters, and webinars.
In conjunction with this initiative, the Smeal College of Business approved a new real estate undergraduate degree option within the newly formed Risk Management Department. The real estate risk management major prepares students to succeed in real estate related careers where employers demand quantitative and qualitative skills necessary to assess and analyze all aspects of risks associated with real estate investment. Graduates will have the technical skills, economic discipline, and critical thinking ability required to succeed in the ever-changing real estate landscape. In essence, the Real Estate Society serves as a platform for finding fresh ways to network and support real estate education at Penn State.
Led by alumni volunteers Lawrence Colorito ’88 and Edouard Cuilhe ’03, the Real Estate Society’s activities are aimed at fostering the development of all Penn State graduates who are real estate professionals as well as current students. Colorito, who owns a Chesapeake, Virginia, based appraisal and consulting business welcomes the chance to be more closely involved with the college and the Penn State real estate community.
“The new Real Estate Society gives Penn State alums who practice in real estate a “home” back in State College. This is an opportunity for me to give back to the school I love and see some direct impact to the students while networking with others in my business,” Colorito says.
To join RES, alumni are asked to make a gift of $100 or more to support real estate education. Gifts can be made on-line via www.givenow.psu.edu/InstituteforRealEstateStudies.
Through the Real Estate Society, alumni and friends of the college will find:
- Regional networking opportunities as well as via Linked-In and Smeal Connect, the college’s social networking site;
- Invitation to the annual Real Estate Tailgate organized in conjunction with the Smeal Real Estate Advisory Board on a fall football weekend;
- Invitations to regional Real Estate Society events featuring your favorite faculty members and other special speakers.
- Access via podcasts to the department’s speakers on timely and relevant real estate issues;
- Mentoring opportunities with current students;
- Subscription to the Smeal Real Estate Society newsletter.
Contributions of $2,500 per year (or $1,500 per year for alumni age 35 or younger) or more will qualify the donor for membership in Penn State’s President’s Club, which honors donors for their annual gifts to the University.
“The time has come to form a venue that brings together a wide range of alumni who are practicing in the various real estate disciplines in a way that benefits them and supports today’s students,” says Brent Ambrose, Smeal professor of real estate and IRES director. “By creating networking opportunities and providing tangible professional resources, and by promoting philanthropic giving in support for our programs, our hope is to make the Real Estate Society valuable for alumni and students.”
For more information about the Real Estate Society, contact Richard Button, Assistant Director of the Institute for Real Estate Studies, at rjb366@psu.edu or 814-865-5670.
