About the Center
The Samuel Zell and Robert Lurie Real Estate Center was permanently endowed by Samuel Zell in 1998. The Center was established in 1983 by The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania to foster excellence in real estate education and research.
Research
The Zell/Lurie Center promotes and funds scholarly research on topics of interest to our industry.
- Research conducted by the Real Estate Department's standing and affiliated faculty is augmented by post-doctoral researchers and/or research specialists.
- Findings are published in the Center's own Wharton Real Estate Review (a twice-yearly journal for real estate executives, analysts, public officials, and scholars), in leading academic real estate journals, and in the Center's Working Paper Series.
- The Center has also sponsored the Seevak Student Research Competition for undergraduate and MBA students.
Education and Scholarship
- The Zell/Lurie Center works with the Wharton Real Estate Department faculty to foster excellence in real estate education.
- The Center helps develop curriculum for the Real Estate Department, consistently ranked best in the country by US News & World Report.
- Committed to excellence in education, the Center awards fellowships and scholarships to promising real estate students. Many of these are funded by our members.
Meetings and Lecture Series
- Our Spring and Fall Members’ Meetings provide unequalled networking opportunities and an extraordinary forum for students, faculty and prominent real estate executives to discuss relevant industry concerns. The Fall Meeting is for members only and the guests. Non-members may attend the Spring Meeting for a fee.
- The Farash Distinguished Lecture Series brings noted real estate practitioners to the Center.
- The Max Farash Real Estate Roundtable is the centerpiece of the Spring Members Meeting and Fall Members' Meeting.
- The Eric and Beth Schlager Lecture Series, which has attracted standing-room-only student attendance to hear from entrepreneurs such as Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Colony Capital, LLC, a major private equity investor in global real estate, and real estate titan Sam Zell.
Other Initiatives and Outreach
- The Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center supports and extends the globalization initiatives of The Wharton School through the activities of its International Housing Finance Program.
- The Center also serves as a liaison between Wharton faculty and students and business professionals, through, for example, the Ballard Executive Visitor series, named in honor of the late Claude Ballard, who established the Center's first endowment.
