DATE: February 26, 2008

CONTACT: Elaine Worzala, (864) 656-3657
eworzal@clemson.edu

WRITER: Ross Norton, (864) 656-4810
rnorton@clemson.edu

Worzala heads Clemson Center for Real Estate Development

CLEMSON — Elaine Worzala is the new director of Clemson University’s Center for Real Estate Development, a joint initiative between the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities and the College of Business and Behavioral Science.

An internationally recognized scholar, Worzala moves from her position at Johns Hopkins University as a professor of real estate in the Edward St. John Department of Real Estate, where she was the director of the Accelerated Masters of Science in Real Estate. Before joining Johns Hopkins, she was the research director and director of the master’s program in real estate at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego. She also was the co-director of the Center for Real Estate Finance and Investment at Colorado State University and a visiting professor with the Real Estate Center at the University of Connecticut.   

“I am very excited to work with the real estate development academic programs as well as the center’s advancement board at Clemson University,” Worzala said. “I look forward to continuing to build on the success of the 4-year-old Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program and expanding our outreach into the industry. Our intent is to work with the real estate development community and expand our reputation as a quality program. The land grant mission of Clemson University is an ideal environment to bring together the needs of the business community and provide them with a resource that can provide applied practical research.”  

With more than 25 years of experience in the real estate academic environment, Worzala brings a wealth of connections to build the national and international prominence of the center. She holds a Ph.D. in real estate and urban land economics (1992) and a master's in real estate appraisal and investment analysis (1984) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the oldest and most established graduate real estate programs in the country.

“We are extremely pleased to have successfully recruited Dr. Worzala to lead the Center for Real Estate Development,” said Terry Farris, director of the MRED program and founding director of the center. “Her appointment helps us to more firmly establish our reputation as a premier research center, complementing our nationally recognized master’s degree in real estate development. Her interest in the multi-disciplinary nature of the industry as well as a passion for problem solving is crucial to the mission of the center as well as the university.”

An active member of several real estate academic and professional associations, Worzala is a past-president of the American Real Estate Society. She is a founding member and past-president of the International Real Estate Society. Both organizations are dedicated to bringing academics and practitioners together to help bridge the gap between theory and practice within the real estate industry.  

“Dr. Worzala’s decision to leave Johns Hopkins to join Clemson University is a strong endorsement for the graduate real estate program as well as the growing reputation of Clemson University as one of the top public universities in the country,” said Clifton Egan, interim dean of the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities. “She is well-recognized as a leading scholar in the real estate discipline and has worked hard over her career to enhance the professional reputation of the real estate industry. We are thrilled that she has chosen our university as the platform to continue her work in quality graduate real estate education and research.”

Worzala has completed research grants for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Appraisal Institute, the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Real Estate Research Institute and the Pension Real Estate Association. She believes strongly in bringing relevancy to her classroom from her research projects. She has published articles in many of the mainstream real estate academic journals as well as industry-based publications and other media. A frequent reviewer of academic work, she sits on the editorial boards of many of the real estate academic and industry-based journals. Her research interests are applied and lie primarily in institutional real estate investment, valuation, education and, most recently, seniors housing. Additionally, many of her studies take on an international perspective as she works to open up the borders as they relate to real estate markets.

As part of her appointment, Worzala also will teach in the Master of Real Estate Development program, a two-year, full-time interdisciplinary program with classes in MBA, finance, law, construction, architecture, city and regional planning, and real estate development. During her career, Worzala has taught numerous real estate courses including introductory real estate, real estate process and market analysis, real estate valuations, roundtables on the role of the architect and contractor, real estate feasibility and real estate finance and investments.

Worzala has received numerous research awards and recognitions. Most recently she was invited to become the first woman Distinguished Fellow of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties. She was initiated as a Fellow into the Weimer School, an invitation-only research program that is part of the Homer Hoyt Institute, a real estate think tank devoted to expanding the knowledge of real estate educators. She recently was recognized as an exemplary Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors based on her international research and teaching credentials. Lambda Alpha International recognized her dedication to urban land economics and recently initiated her into that organization of real estate professionals.

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