10-16-2024
I recently returned from Chicago with 17 real estate students from the Dean V. White Real Estate Finance Program at Purdue’s Daniels School of Business and wanted to share what I enjoy so much about my job.
Our program started in August 2022 thanks to the generosity of a single man, Bruce White, the late entrepreneur and founder and chairman of White Lodging. His vision was to create a truly interdisciplinary program based around helping students make decisions as owners, investors, and developers of the world’s largest asset class and source of household wealth.
This is what made the decision to join Purdue as the inaugural director of the Dean V. White Real Estate Finance program so appealing after spending the previous 16 years instructing and leading real estate programs at other universities. The program started with an initial goal of 100 declared real estate minors by the end of the third year, which was easily exceeded with 197 declared minors by the end of the second year with an almost 50/50 split of business and non-business majors as intended.
One of the important innovations of the program has been hiring Mary Laurie as our senior industry outreach coordinator. Mary coordinates Purdue alumni and real estate employers’ engagement with our students inside and outside of the classroom to ensure career success. As a testament to her efforts, we graduated our first cohort of 36 real estate minors in Spring 2024 with 100% placement of students into full-time employment by one month after graduation.
Mary has also been instrumental in planning our student treks, the most recent of which took place in Chicago, where the students toured the recent redevelopment of the old Cook County hospital, took selfies in Willis Tower, and learned about the genius of Sam Zell. They met with and learned from Purdue alumni in a networking session at the end of the first day. For several students it was not only their first time in Chicago, but also their first time in an office or industrial building.
While there have always been many paths for Purdue students to be successful in life, the creation of the real estate finance program has changed lives by opening eyes to new possibilities. Enabling these student experiences and opportunities to work with so many passionate alumni is why I am so fortunate to be in my position, and excited for what comes next for our program.
Mike Eriksen is a Professor of Economics at the Daniels School and Director of the Dean V. White Real Estate Finance Program. Prior to joining Purdue, he was the West Shell Associate Professor of Real Estate at the University of Cincinnati and Academic Director of the UC Real Estate Center and Program.
