[Crealums] MIT/CRE LETTER from the DIRECTOR, July 2003

[Marion Cunningham]

July 21, 2003





Dear CRE Alumns,



On July 1st, I assumed the directorship of the MIT Center for Real Estate
(CRE), less than a year after arriving at MIT as Professor of Real Estate
Finance in our Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MSRED) program.
As CRE stands on the threshold of enrolling our 20th MSRED class, I want you
to know that I value your continued support of the Center, and I want to
relate to you my initial perspective on the big picture of the MIT CRE.



For nearly twenty years, the Center has run a top-notch, unique graduate
educational program. MIT’s MSRED program contributes to the global real
estate industry by providing a bright, energetic, creative talent pool with
a focused real estate curriculum and educational experience that is second
to none. MSRED alums number over 600 worldwide, and are rising throughout
the ranks of the real estate industry. I know I share your hope that the
MSRED program will continue to evolve and serve the industry for many years
to come.



When MIT established the Center for Real Estate in 1984, its stated mission
was to improve the quality of the built environment and to raise the level
of the real estate industry by increasing the skills, knowledge and
creativity of those in that industry. These aims were to be achieved
primarily through graduate and professional education, basic and applied
research, and industry/academia outreach. At the inception of my term as
director, I must say that as impressed as I am with how well the Center has
developed its educational objective, I believe it is currently falling short
of what it needs to do in the other dimension of its mission: industry
relevant research and outreach. We need to do more to develop the synergy
that should exist between this great research institution, MIT, and the
global real estate industry. It is both a symptom and a cause of this
shortcoming that CRE currently finds itself too isolated--isolated from the
rest of MIT, and isolated from the real estate industry that we serve. To
ensure the CRE’s long-range health, including our continued ability to
provide and improve the MSRED program, the vital research and outreach spark
must be rekindled.



As director, I am viewing this need as Job #1. In recent weeks, I have met
with the top leadership of the Institute--from President Vest to the leaders
of the Sloan School of Management, the School of Engineering, and our “home”
School of Architecture and Planning, as well as many faculty and
administrators. There is no question that real estate is one of the greatest
and most important fields of interdisciplinary research application in the
world. Academic disciplines and departments ranging from economics through
architecture, from sociology through logistics, from urban planning through
corporate finance, and many more, are vitally relevant for real estate. Real
estate is one-third of all global wealth, over one-tenth of the GDP, largely
defines our cities and humankind’s imprint on the earth’s physical
environment, and affects everyone’s daily lives. What other field of
application should be more important than real estate for an Institute that
aims to make the world a better place? The cross-disciplinary nature of both
the real estate industry and the Institute has not waned in the twenty years
since the Center’s founding; in fact it is quite the opposite! I see great
potential to leverage and respond to the synergy between MIT and the real
estate industry in ways that will increase the intellectual capital of all
parties.



We are committed to building the Center into an effective bridge linking MIT
’s unique capabilities to the cutting edge of the global real estate
industry. Of course, this must be done in partnership with industry. MIT
cannot dance alone. We plan to approach leaders in the industry soon, for
their input and perspective. Right now, I am working within MIT to ensure
that we are organized in a manner that allows us to be substantively
responsive to industry.



Clearly this is a pivotal time in the Center’s history. Your continued
support is vital to realizing the strategic vision of the Center. I am very
interested in hearing from you. Please feel free to contact me at (617)
253-8311 or dgeltner at MIT.EDU. As we “build the future” together, I hope that
I can count on your continued support.



With best regards,







David Geltner

Professor,

Director, MIT Center for Real Estate
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