David Rupert Named Chair
DAVID RUPERT NAMED CHAIR OF 25TH ANNUAL CORNELL REAL ESTATE CONFERENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE
ITHACA, NY. – David L. Funk, Director of the Cornell University Program in Real Estate, announced today that David C. Rupert has been appointed Chair of the 25th Annual Cornell Real Estate Conference planning committee. The conference, the longest running university-based real estate event of its kind, is scheduled for October 4-5, 2007 in New York City.
“We are ecstatic that David Rupert will lead the planning efforts for what we anticipate will be a very special 25th annual Conference,” said Funk, adding, “David’s insight into the broad real estate industry, extensive contacts, and uncanny ability to identify trend topics and emerging critical issues has been and will continue to be a driving force behind the success of the Cornell Real Estate Conference.” Rupert, Chief Operating Officer of Griffin Capital, a Los Angeles-headquartered, privately-held real estate investment company focused on the creation of industry-leading real estate investment products for individual investors, is a long-time Cornell Program in Real Estate Advisory Board member.
“I am honored to serve as planning chair for the 25th annual Conference, and look forward to working with my fellow committee members to attract another group of interesting and dynamic speakers to educate and entertain attendees,” said Rupert. He added that the last conference will be difficult to top. “We were fortunate to gather arguably the most active and successful institutional real estate investors, including representatives from Blackstone, Colony, AIG, GE, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Kingdom Hotels (to name just a few),” said Rupert.
Rupert, a 1979 recipient of a Bachelor’s Degree from Cornell’s Arts and Sciences school, has served on the Real Estate Advisory Board to Cornell University’s Endowment for 15 years, has been a guest lecturer at the school for a similar duration, and is an active member of Cornell’s Real Estate Council, an 1,100member organization of Cornell alumni actively engaged in the real estate business, believed to be the largest such organization in the country. Rupert also chaired the planning efforts of last year’s conference, themed “NEW FRONTIERS: FINDING VALUE IN REAL ESTATE,” held in Ithaca October 5-6, 2006. Sponsors of the past conference included GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, Prudential Real Estate Investors, Westport Capital Partners, AIG Global Real Estate, Ashley Capital, Citigroup Property Investors, Colony Capital, Toll Brothers, Colliers ABR, and Urban American. The keynote speaker was Michael Pralle, CEO of GE Commercial Finance Real Estate, and featured industry leaders from the US and abroad in the two-day format.
The Cornell Program in Real Estate offers a comprehensive, two-year professional degree in the field. Students at Cornell benefit from an encompassing core curriculum combined with a rich, diverse selection of real estate electives allowing for niche specialization—all in close interaction with the largest on-campus real estate faculty in the country. Cornell is also home to the Cornell Real Estate Council, an extensive network of industry leaders, the Cornell Real Estate Review, the Cornell Real Estate Conference, research and industry news, and more.
For additional information, please visit http://www.realestate.cornell.edu.