Stern receives $20 million donation to create new real estate institute
The Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance will provide new programs and scholarships focusing on sustainability, technology and real estate markets.
The newly established Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance seeks to boost students’ industry connections through increased co-curricular programming. (Kiran Komanduri for WSN)
September 26, 2022
Charles C.Y. Chen, a Stern alum and executive board member, donated $20 million to the school to establish the Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate, an academic center that will offer new real estate and finance courses to students.
The center will focus on three initiatives — sustainability, emerging real estate markets and technology including machine learning. The Stern School of Business’ Center for Real Estate Finance, founded in 2012, will also be integrated into the new institute and contribute to its programming.
“The impetus for this gift is to honor my father, who is a strong believer in the power of education and was the first in our family to attend a major university,” Chen said in a press release. “He has also been instrumental in building our family business and in driving our family’s philanthropy.”
The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business will also partner with the institute to address climate change and sustainable development in real estate, according to Sam Chandan, director of the C.H. Chen Institute. Chandan said that there is a need for a multidisciplinary approach to the changing real estate industry.
“The student experience is central to the Institute’s mission, alongside research,” Chandan wrote to WSN. “Almost immediately, students will see an increase in co-curricular programming, primarily focused on connecting them even more deeply with industry.”
Chandan said that the institute will offer several new courses, including a real estate data science course and a graduate study away course that will be taught at NYU London in January 2023. It will also offer annual scholarships to support undergraduate and MBA students.
“The Sept. 7, 2022 establishment of the Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance was the result of many months of collaboration between Mr. Chen and the School and now serves as a model of excellence for future centers and institutes to follow,” Amanda Parker, the associate dean of Development and Alumni Relations at Stern, wrote to WSN.
Contact Amna Sheikh at [email protected].
