News and Progress

Major gift creates real estate institute

Enabled by gifts of more than $3 million from alumnus Jeffrey E. Smith

Jan. 24, 2006

Bruce Walker, dean of the College of Business, left, announced that alumnus Jeff Smith, right, will provide funding for the creation of a new real estate institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Students in the real estate program will benefit from more educational opportunities. Photo by Stella Studios

The University of Missouri-Columbia College of Business announced the establishment of the Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate. The new Institute will be part of the college's Department of Finance.

“We are extremely excited to announce the creation of the Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate and are very appreciative to Jeff Smith, an alumnus of the college,” said Bruce Walker, dean of the MU College of Business. “His donations underwrite the establishment of the Institute as well as a professorship and faculty scholar positions. With this new financial support, the Department of Finance will be able to prepare more students to be future leaders in real estate and in the related financial services areas.”

The gifts from Smith, which total more than $3 million, will cover annual expenses and also build an endowment that will enable the Institute to become a permanent part of the college.

Additional financial support for the institute's faculty, programs, and students has been received from private donors and companies. For example, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker (CTMT), an international real estate firm based in St. Louis, and its CEO Mark Burkhart, who also is an MU business alumnus, have established the CTMT Scholar in Finance and Real Estate.

Currently, College of Business students can earn a bachelor of science in business administration degree with an emphasis in real estate. The Jeffrey E. Smith Institute builds on the college's real estate program by supporting the expansion of educational offerings at both the undergraduate and master's levels, increasing the array of professional development opportunities for students, and supporting research focused on real estate and other financial services.

“I'm pleased to add my support to the MU College of Business,” Smith said. “We're excited to build upon the already strong real estate curriculum at MU. Highly-trained MU graduates will continue to make excellent employee candidates.”

Examples of the programs and initiatives the real estate institute will support include an annual national conference for the real estate industry to benefit both students and executives in real estate; real estate speakers for classroom lectures; the national student organization, Rho Epsilon; and additional internships for students in real estate. The Institute also will provide financial support for faculty members and graduate students conducting industry-focused research.

The Jeffrey E. Smith Institute will be guided by a director and an advisory board that will provide counsel and active support for professional and educational programs. The director and the board have yet to be appointed.

On January 24, 2006, the MU College of Business presented the inaugural lecture of the Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate Annual Conference. David P. Stockert, president and CEO of Post Properties, Inc., based in Atlanta, spoke about “The State of Real Estate” in Bush Auditorium in Cornell Hall. Founded over 30 years ago, Atlanta-based Post Properties is one of the largest developers and operators of upscale multi-family housing communities in the United States.

Jeff Smith received his bachelor of science in business administration degree from the MU College of Business in 1972. He is the founder and president of Jeffrey E. Smith Companies, a family of real estate development, construction, and management companies based in Columbia, Mo. Jeffrey E. Smith Companies has developed more than 4,000 multi-family and senior properties with investments in another 10,000 housing units.

Founded in 1914, the MU College of Business enrolls more than 3,800 undergraduate students and more than 300 graduate students. The college has four academic units — Accountancy, Finance, Management and Marketing — with 61 full-time faculty members. The college offers an undergraduate degree in business administration, an MBA degree, a 150-hour program that confers both undergraduate and master's degrees in accountancy, and PhD degrees in both accountancy and business administration. The College of Business takes great pride in its graduates. Nearly 30,000 alumni are contributing their expertise to the public and private sectors in every state in the U.S. and in a host of foreign countries.