by Stephen Malpezzi, Professor and Lorin and Marjorie Tiefenthaler Distinguished Chair in Real Estate
Students are filtering back, and we’re gearing up for another rocking academic year. The streets are filled with students and their friends and parents, and vans and trailers full of the necessities of another year in Madison.
Do you miss the reading lists and syllabi you used to receive each September? Well, you can get a head start at your lifelong-learning ‘semester’ by reading through the little list here at our blog where I posted the latest Top 12 “Reading for Life” entries. (Comments welcome!) But I’m writing today mainly to bring you some news.
Last year, after several turns as Department Chair, and two years as Academic Director of the Graaskamp Center, I turned the Center directorship into the more-than-capable hands of Morris Davis. I was planning to spend more time on teaching and research. But (great!) events intervened, and I stepped in as Department Chair once again last fall, when François Ortalo-Magné became our new Dean.
I’m very excited about the directions François is taking our School. School-wide initiatives that he’s spearheading focus on increasing the impact of our research on business and public policy; providing a transformational student experience through innovations in the way we teach; and providing faculty, staff, students and all of us with a “Great Platform for Great Work.” During the coming year you will learn more about these initiatives both through our blog but also the WSB’s website.
Today I’m writing to tell you more about another positive change. Recently Dean Ortalo-Magné made it official: my colleagues and I are very pleased that Professor Abdullah Yavas has accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics.
Professor Yavas is well known among real estate academics as one of the most innovative and productive researchers in our field; several years ago we were very excited to lure him to Madison from Penn State, where he was a stalwart member of their fine faculty for 17 years. As many readers of this blog already know, Abdullah is also a faculty member of deep experience across a number of other dimensions, including administration; he’s one of only two real estate academics I know who’s served as president of a university!
I know readers of this blog will join François and me, and the rest of our faculty, in congratulating Abdullah, and thanking him for taking on this important responsibility. Check out Abdullah’s bio, if you have not already done so.
I must make a personal clarification as well. The LAST time I stepped down as Department Chair (!), I received a number of messages wishing me well in retirement. Retirement? Let me be very clear, I am NOT retiring.
I will be doing whatever I can, as so many others will, to support our School and in particular our Real Estate Program’s management team of Abdullah and Center Academic Director Morris Davis, and of course our Graaskamp Center Executive Director Mike Brennan, in the coming year and beyond. I’ll be expanding my teaching responsibilities, helping the School with the new Business Analytics initiative (including but not limited to improving our students’ Excel skills), and working to focus the efforts of Real Estate and other parts of the School and UW on some important economic development issues. Forthcoming blog posts will fill you in on some new Graaskamp Center initiatives on economic development, with an initial focus on the Midwest.
This year, in addition to teaching urban economics, I’m excited to be teaming up with Mike Hershberger to teach valuation, and with Erwan Quintin to revive our housing economics class (last taught in 2002!) As we bring these courses online this fall, we’ll be looking to make good use of the resources François and donors including real estate alum Milo Pinkerton are bringing to the teaching innovation initiatives that François mentions in the attachment.
We have plenty of other news to share, notably the fact that our newest faculty member, Assistant Professor Jaime Luque, is now on campus and preparing his first courses, in urban economics and real estate finance. You’ve probably already read about Jaime. In the ensuing months, you’ll be hearing much more from Abdullah and Morris, and Mike, and our other faculty and staff, about the state of our Program and our industry. At the School level, you’ll hear from François and his management team. Rest assured that you’ll continue to hear from me, too. After nine years of administrative responsibilities I’m looking forward to a little more time for teaching and research, but I will continue to be actively involved in all aspects of the Graaskamp Center and our real estate Program. Especially writing more postings for Wisconsin Real Estate Viewpoint!
Showing posts with label announcements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label announcements. Show all posts
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A few observations on the evolution of our Program and School
by Stephen Malpezzi, Professor and Lorin and Marjorie Tiefenthaler Distinguished Chair in Real Estate
We've had two significant changes in the staffing and organization of the Wisconsin School of Business and our real estate program in the past few weeks. On July 1, Associate Professor Morris Davis took the reins as Academic Director of the Graaskamp Center, implementing a succession plan that we've had in place for some time. A very short description of the Graaskamp Center's main functions are to provide a home for the MBA program in real estate, and to implement the Wisconsin Idea by connecting our program more deeply to the worlds of business practice and policy outside the University. Morris' movement into this position is a natural evolution after he so successfully took on leadership of the MBA program last year; now he adds the outreach functions to his portfolio. With the support of the faculty, Center staff, Executive Director Michael Brennan, and the rest of the UW real estate community, Professor Davis is well placed to move the Center to the next stage of its evolution. Morris' deep and probing approach to the study of real estate, and his enthusiasm and out-of-the-box thinking, augur well for our future.
Our second change is even more significant, as on September 1 our esteemed Department Chair François Ortalo-Magné becomes the Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, succeeding our program's good friend Mike Knetter. During his tenure as Department Chair, François has worked tirelessly and effectively to move our program and the School ahead, in ways large and small. Most of you know at least the outlines of the Global Real Estate Masters (GREM), our innovative partnership with HEC, INCAE and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to offer dual degrees to students from those top schools, in the process exposing our MBAs and undergraduates to repeated cohorts of future fellow global leaders in real estate. Perhaps fewer people outside Madison know about many of the other innovations François has pioneered in the "blocking and tackling" of the program, e.g. our marketing, financial stewardship, and curriculum. François has shown repeatedly that he is one of those rare leaders who excel at both the development of innovative strategies and their careful execution.
Right now, the highest priority for our real estate program has to be moving ahead in concert with the Wisconsin School of Business, and I am completely confident François is the right person to build on the contributions of Mike Knetter, (interim dean) Joan Schmit and other leaders of our School.
Naturally, we will have some other changes to announce in the weeks and months ahead as we adjust the roles of faculty and staff in response to these exciting developments. For now, let me simply congratulate Morris and François on their new roles, and convey my own enthusiasm about the possibilities these changes open up for the Graaskamp Center, the entire Wisconsin Real Estate Program, and the Wisconsin School of Business. I have had, and continue to enjoy, the privilege of working with Morris and François and our other faculty and staff, and so many of you who embody those attributes and values that make the Wisconsin Tradition what it is today: intellectual rigor, an ethical approach to our business, great enthusiasm for our students, "continual and fearless sifting and winnowing." I know you will join me in supporting Morris and François in their new roles. On Wisconsin!
We've had two significant changes in the staffing and organization of the Wisconsin School of Business and our real estate program in the past few weeks. On July 1, Associate Professor Morris Davis took the reins as Academic Director of the Graaskamp Center, implementing a succession plan that we've had in place for some time. A very short description of the Graaskamp Center's main functions are to provide a home for the MBA program in real estate, and to implement the Wisconsin Idea by connecting our program more deeply to the worlds of business practice and policy outside the University. Morris' movement into this position is a natural evolution after he so successfully took on leadership of the MBA program last year; now he adds the outreach functions to his portfolio. With the support of the faculty, Center staff, Executive Director Michael Brennan, and the rest of the UW real estate community, Professor Davis is well placed to move the Center to the next stage of its evolution. Morris' deep and probing approach to the study of real estate, and his enthusiasm and out-of-the-box thinking, augur well for our future.
Our second change is even more significant, as on September 1 our esteemed Department Chair François Ortalo-Magné becomes the Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business, succeeding our program's good friend Mike Knetter. During his tenure as Department Chair, François has worked tirelessly and effectively to move our program and the School ahead, in ways large and small. Most of you know at least the outlines of the Global Real Estate Masters (GREM), our innovative partnership with HEC, INCAE and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to offer dual degrees to students from those top schools, in the process exposing our MBAs and undergraduates to repeated cohorts of future fellow global leaders in real estate. Perhaps fewer people outside Madison know about many of the other innovations François has pioneered in the "blocking and tackling" of the program, e.g. our marketing, financial stewardship, and curriculum. François has shown repeatedly that he is one of those rare leaders who excel at both the development of innovative strategies and their careful execution.
Right now, the highest priority for our real estate program has to be moving ahead in concert with the Wisconsin School of Business, and I am completely confident François is the right person to build on the contributions of Mike Knetter, (interim dean) Joan Schmit and other leaders of our School.
Naturally, we will have some other changes to announce in the weeks and months ahead as we adjust the roles of faculty and staff in response to these exciting developments. For now, let me simply congratulate Morris and François on their new roles, and convey my own enthusiasm about the possibilities these changes open up for the Graaskamp Center, the entire Wisconsin Real Estate Program, and the Wisconsin School of Business. I have had, and continue to enjoy, the privilege of working with Morris and François and our other faculty and staff, and so many of you who embody those attributes and values that make the Wisconsin Tradition what it is today: intellectual rigor, an ethical approach to our business, great enthusiasm for our students, "continual and fearless sifting and winnowing." I know you will join me in supporting Morris and François in their new roles. On Wisconsin!
Congratulations Dean Ortalo-Magné
Please join us in welcoming Wisconsin Real Estate's own François Ortalo-Magné as the new dean of the Wisconsin School of Business. The announcement came on Friday July 8. Ortalo-Magné, Robert E. Wangard Professor and chair of the Real Estate and Urban Land Economics Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will begin his new role as the Albert O. Nicholas Dean of the Wisconsin School of Business on September 1. Visit the school's website for the full announcement and more information. Here are a few quotes from the official announcement:“I am convinced the Wisconsin School of Business is capable of greatness. And we do not have a choice,” says Ortalo-Magné. “We must respond to the globalization of higher education and the revolution in information technologies. I am excited about the opportunity to lead our school, building on our values and the strength of our specializations, renewing and reinventing how we partner with the world and colleagues around campus.”
“François has the intellectual energy and ambition to help the School of Business reach new levels,” says UW-Madison Chancellor Biddy Martin. “I am impressed by his work on the international front and am confident that he will consolidate and enhance the gains made under Mike Knetter’s leadership."
The Financial Times carried news of the announcement on Monday, "Wisconsin-Madison appoints Ortalo-Magné as next dean."
And the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran a profile, "UW-Madison names new business school dean," including comments from Bill Malkasian, president of the Wisconsin Realtors Association.
"He sees no boundaries. He certainly understands the world. ...He brings a global perspective."
Congratulations to François and on Wisconsin!
UPDATED 7.15.11
BusinessWeek reported today "Wisconsin Gets a New B-School Dean." Read the article here.
UW's Daily Cardinal also writes ("Ortalo-Magné named B-School dean") that Ortalo-Magné:
intends to strengthen leadership within the business school, continue to learn about how the school functions, and build relationships with other business school deans.
Ortalo-Magné said it is imperative for the business school to respond to worldwide changes in information technologies and higher education, and he looks forward to helping it do so.
Photo: Valerie Caviness
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Snow day
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has canceled classes and events for Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011. The university plans to resume classes and events on Thursday, Feb. 3.
Campus news reports that crews have begun to "dig out from the crippling winter storm that forced cancellation of classes and events on campus Wednesday, Feb. 2. Overall, authorities reported that the campus was quiet overnight and there are no reports of any problems beyond travel."
For more information on cancellations related to the storm, check this page. And enjoy the snow day!
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