Bob Steers, Don Wood, and Bryce Blair at the Real Estate Summit
Executive Program Gets New Name, Office Welcomes New Team
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he programs formerly known as the International Executive MBA Program (IEMBA) and the Global Executive MBA Program– Georgetown Campus will now be identified as the Executive MBA Program (EMBA). Melissa Trotta, associate dean for executive degree programs, notes that the revised name will allow more prospective students to find the school while searching for executive MBA programs. It also provides differentiation from the GeorgetownESADE Global Executive MBA Program (GEMBA). In addition, the school announced new senior appointments in the Office of Executive Education. Paul Almeida will lead the office as senior associate dean for executive education, focusing on strategy, academics, public relations, and business development. Almeida is a professor of strategy at the school and the academic director of the GEMBA program.
Trotta was appointed associate dean for executive degree programs, responsible for operations, admissions and program delivery. She was the first leader of the school’s MBA Evening Program and, more recently, she oversaw a number of the new, school-wide initiatives. A new assistant dean in the Executive Education Degree Programs office is Cindy McCauley, who previously served as assistant dean for Student Services in the MBA Full-Time Program. The school also hired two directors of program development, Nancy Beer Tobin and Ashley Baker. Beer Tobin most recently was vice president of corporate social responsibility at CGI in Fairfax, Va. Baker came to Georgetown from Booz Allen Hamilton. Finally, Brooks Holtom was appointed interim associate dean for custom executive programs. He is an associate professor of management at the school.
Richard Mitchell
Cindy McCauley, Paul Almeida, Brooks Holtom, Ashley Baker, Melissa Trotta, and Nancy Beer Tobin
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Real Estate Summit Opens New Initiative
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n recognition of the growing importance of real estate as an asset class and the need for high-quality education in real estate finance and development, the school launched the Real Estate Initiative to train the next generation of real estate industry leaders. The Real Estate Initiative kicked off in April with the Georgetown Real Estate Summit. Two panels of distinguished CEOs and executives gathered at the school to discuss important capital markets issues as related to raising equity and debt capital, including real estate investment trusts (REITs), commercial real estate trends, the impact of the credit crisis, and strategies for investors to survive this challenging environment. “The Real Estate Initiative has gotten off to a tremendous start with the summit and other programs,” says Jeff Reid, director of the Entrepreneurship and Real Estate Initiatives. “As a result of connecting the industry’s best leaders with our students in a high-energy format, we have already seen increased interest from firms wanting to hire our graduates.” The April summit was quickly followed in May by a real estate-themed reception in New York City at which more than 120 Georgetown alumni networked and discussed industry trends with an expert panel, which included
Lisa Helfert
News
Michael Graziano, managing director and co-head of Real Estate Investment at Goldman Sachs and Co.; Matt Lustig, vice chairman of U.S. investment banking at Lazard; and Keith Barket, senior managing director at Angelo, Gordon Co. — all distinguished Georgetown alumni. The event was co-sponsored by Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business Real Estate Initiative, the Wall Street Alliance, and Alumni Career Services. “We are laying the groundwork to become one of the nation’s best real estate capital markets education programs,” Reid says. “Georgetown has the right ingredients with its strength in global finance, its location, and an incredible alumni base in the industry.” As of press time, the Real Estate Initiative had two other events planned for the fall to showcase the new program. At the end of September, legendary real estate investor Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, LLC, was scheduled to headline an event titled “Public to Private Real Estate Buyouts: State of the Big Deal” as part of the new Real Estate Luminary Series, along with other top industry players. The school was also planning to host the 50 top real estate CEOs for an industry briefing as part of the Urban Land Institute’s fall conference in Washington, D.C. msb.georgetown.edu