Appointment of Distinguished Chair in Real Estate

From: Chuck Middleton, President

I am delighted to announce the appointment of John F. McDonald as the Gerald W. Fogelson Distinguished Chair in Real Estate in Roosevelt University’s Walter E. Heller College of Business Administration, effective in the fall semester.

Dr. McDonald is internationally known for his research on urban economics, real estate, transportation and zoning. The author of seven books on the economy and metropolitan growth, he currently is Professor Emeritus of Economics and Finance and Interim Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The Chair Dr. McDonald will occupy is named in honor of Roosevelt University Trustee Gerald Fogelson, who is co-founder of the Heller College’s Chicago School of Real Estate and co-chair of the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate Advisory Board. I want to thank Jerry, his associates, his family and colleagues in the industry for the endowment support that has enabled us to fill this second chair in the School.

“I am extremely pleased to welcome Dr. McDonald to the Heller College of Business faculty,” said Dean Terri Friel. “He has the perfect blend of academic and professional experience that will inspire our students. He will bring energy and new opportunities to the Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate that will further the Institute’s status as Chicago’s school for real estate studies and will build our reputation as a national force in real estate education.”

“I have long had a great deal of respect for the Heller College’s innovative real estate program,” Dr. McDonald said. “Chicago is my town and real estate education and research is my field. I think that Roosevelt is the best place for the next phase of my professional life.”

Dr. McDonald joined UIC in 1971 as an assistant professor of economics after receiving his Ph.D. in economics from Yale University. During his distinguished career at UIC, he has served as Interim Dean of the College of Business Administration, Founding Director of the Center for Urban Real Estate, Professor of Economics and Finance, Director of Graduate Studies in Real Estate and Faculty Scholar for the Great Cities Institute.

In addition to being an outstanding administrator and scholar, he is a first-rate professor who has taught numerous courses, including introductory real estate, advanced undergraduate real estate finance and real estate investment analysis.

His on-going research is focused on real estate and urban planning in the Chicago metropolitan area. Although his research record is based largely on studies on the Chicago area, a hallmark of his work is that it also advances theories and methods that are used to study urban areas in general.

“The addition of John McDonald to our real estate faculty will allow us to immediately expand the depth and quality of our graduate classes, and very importantly for the future growth of the program, add undergraduate real estate classes to attract students to the field and feed them into the graduate program,” said Jon DeVries, Director of Roosevelt’s Marshall Bennett Institute of Real Estate.

Dr. McDonald also is a leader in national and international real estate organizations. He is editor of the Journal of Real Estate Literature, fellow of the American Real Estate Society, fellow of the Regional Science Association International and former North American editor of Urban Studies. He plans to bring the Journal of Real Estate Literature to Roosevelt.

Dr. McDonald’s appointment will further enhance the reputation and visibility of the Heller College and Chicago School of Real Estate. I look forward to having you meet him when he joins the University.

Chuck Middleton, President
Address replies to: cmiddleton@roosevelt.edu

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