Studley endows DePaul faculty research fellowship

Real Estate Weekly, May 28, 2008

Studley, a New York-based international commercial real estate services firm specializing in tenant representation. has contributed $150,000 to endow a faculty fellowship at DePaul University's College of Commerce.

Named for Jacque "Jack" Ducharme, a company vice chairman and former head of its Chicago office who died in December 2007, the endowment will fund research pertaining to the commercial real estate industry and will be administered through the college's Real Estate Center. The gift increases the center's endowment to more than $10.5 million.

"This is a great honor for a great man," said Studley president Michael Colacino. "Jacque was a mentor to so many people in the commercial real estate industry. Studley's grant to DePaul will perpetuate his legacy by providing support for research on topics concerning the commercial office market. This is a fitting way to honor Jacque's leadership and service to Studley and to the city of Chicago, where he devoted the majority of his career."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"We are truly honored by this generous gift made in memory of such a remarkable and cherished figure in the Chicago real estate community," said Susanne Cannon, the Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Director of The Real Estate Center. "It means that each year we will be able to name and support a faculty scholar who will conduct research on commercial markets and issues that I am sure Mr. Ducharme would have found useful."

Founded in 2002 with funding from more than 40 prominent real estate executives and institutions, The Real Estate Center at DePaul provides the most comprehensive array of real estate courses available in the Midwest. The center offers an MBA concentration in real estate finance and investment and a master's of science degree in real estate studies at DePaul's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, as well as the only undergraduate real estate major in Illinois. Continuing education courses, tailored training programs and industry conferences on relevant real estate issues are also offered.

Though housed in the finance department, the programs are multidisciplinary, encompassing marketing, law and public policy. Students benefit from pragmatic courses that use the Chicago-area real estate market as a laboratory for research and hands-on experience. Current career-focused paths of study prepare students for a broad range of options in brokerage, consulting, development, institutional investment, finance, planning, real estate law, asset management, lending and construction.

With more than 23,000 students, DePaul University is the nation's largest Catholic university and the ninth largest private, not-for-profit university. Located in Chicago, DePaul University offers more than 200 undergraduate and graduate programs of study.