Real Estate Center Annual Dinner honors personal connections in joyous return

In the program’s opening remarks, Real Estate Center Executive Director Carl Goertemoeller summarized the personal and operational changes many in the industry experienced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that “the stakes were too high” in real estate to rely on virtual visits alone.

“Networking is the lifeblood of our industry, and it is great to have everyone back in the fold,” he said. “While Teams, Zoom and Skype have all created efficiencies in how we conduct business, as I tell our students every day, you cannot be effective in this business without making personal connections. It’s what makes our business special and rewarding.”

Lindner Dean Marianne Lewis, PhD, spoke about how the Real Estate Center is a “treasured hub” and leading example at the university for bringing employers and rising talent together — emphasizing the cooperative in cooperative education.

“As a leading co-op business school, we take our business and community partnerships very seriously,” she said. “It’s not a transaction, it’s cooperation, and this center is exceptional at fueling the next generation of talent.”

Additional speakers included Kay Geiger, president for the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region of PNC Bank, 2022 dinner chair Jessica Odenweller, who serves as vice president of assets and acquisitions at Equity, and Board of Executive Advisors in Real Estate (BEARE) Board Chair Mario San Marco. All shared in the celebration of the center and program continually achieving its core objectives.

In the awards portion of the evening, Goertemoeller supplied a rundown of program highlights — 38% program growth, the return of experiential learning through travel to Chicago complete with four company visits, UC Real Estate Association-coordinated site visits to Newport on the Levee with North American Properties and the Atlas Building being redeveloped by Urban Sites, and a successful mentorship pairing with 40 students matched with BEARE board members or other real estate professionals. He also gave kudos to the teaching leadership demonstrated by West Shell Associate Professor of Real Estate Mike Eriksen, PhD, and Assistant Professor Eunjee Kwon, PhD.

“Dr. Kwon recently finished her first year on staff at UC. In addition to her teaching duties, she was actively involved with a variety of research topics,” said Goertemoeller. “We are certainly grateful for Dr. K's leadership and, even more importantly, her role as a global ambassador for the UC real estate program, as she travels to the London School of Economics, MIT Center for Real Estate in Boston, and her alma mater in Seoul, South Korea.”

In 2022, 18 students have been selected to receive a combined total of $40,000 in UC scholarship awards. Additionally, four of these students received additional external scholarships from Ohio Realtors and Society of Industrial and Office Realtors valued at another $7,000, bringing the total dollars awarded to a record $47,000. Those scholarship winners are listed below.

BEARE recognized two scholars, Carly Perrmann, BBA ’23, and Nash St. Clair, BBA ’24. This distinction was initiated in 2016 to celebrate the best of the best in the program — not only in academics, but in taking advantage of the experiential opportunities and co-op.

“Both students exemplify every aspect of the spirit of what the BEARE board wanted to inspire and recognize,” said BEARE member and PNC Senior Vice President Pam Weber in her introduction of Perrmann and St. Clair. “Most of us who have been in the field have said, ‘I would not be hired in my job if I had to compete against students like this.’”

Closing out the student recognition was a video celebrating 2022 Student of the Year Nolan Merten, BBA ’22. Merten graduated in spring 2022 majoring in real estate with a minor in finance. He was a four-year member of the UC Real Estate Association (UCREA) and served as president during his senior year. Merten worked at numerous firms and, upon graduation, accepted a full-time position at the Paul Hemmer Company as a development analyst. He was absent for the event due to a family obligation, but shared his remarks through video:

The finale of the evening was recognizing 2022 Distinguished Service Award Recipient Rusty Myers, managing director at JLL. Myers is a longtime volunteer and servant leader for UC. The fourth-generation Bearcat serves as a UC Foundation trustee and is a past president of the UC Alumni Association, Real Estate Advisory Counsel and Real Estate Roundtable. In 2018, he was awarded the Robert E. Dobbs Distinguished Service Award.

“I look around the room and see some of the people who have known Rusty forever, and think Rusty is their best friend. There’s no bigger compliment than that Rusty is a best friend to many, many people. He's certainly been that to me,” said Jerry Atkins, BA ’81, senior vice president at Bellwether Enterprise and 2019 Distinguished Real Estate Service Award winner during his introduction of Myers.

A video played that showcased what some of those many best friends thought of Myers:

“He knows construction. He knows finance. He knows leasing. He knows marketing,” Atkins continued. “You give Rusty a task, he will put his head down, and he will go from beginning to end and get the job done at a level of excellence that is second to none.”

Featured image: UC Real Estate Center Executive Director Carl Goertemoeller, left, with 10 students who either earned scholarships, distinctions or volunteered at the 31st annual Real Estate Awards dinner. All photos by Joe Fuqua.