Associate Professor Jesse Saginor has been named the new director of the University of Maryland’s Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development, where he will lead efforts to expand the University of Maryland's engagement with the state's real estate industry. Partnering with Real Estate Development Program Director Tanya Bansal, he will cultivate workforce development opportunities, recruitment, research, and pathways into the profession for Maryland students.
“Jesse offers a fresh vision and collaborative style that will help us grow our program’s reputation and reach,” said Bansal. “We share a lot of the same ambitions for what that might look like, and I’m very excited to see what he’ll do.”
Established 20 years ago to launch the University of Maryland’s Master of Real Estate Development, the Colvin Institute was created through a $2.5 million endowment from Baltimore real estate developer John Colvin and his wife Karen to cultivate rich, professional experiences and opportunities for Maryland students, including conferences, competitions and events. In its next chapter, Saginor hopes to position the institute as a premier applied research arm to study facets of the industry, serve as a resource for continued professional development and act as a recruitment pipeline through outreach and events.
“Our entrepreneurial, multi-disciplinary curriculum, our location in the Baltimore-Washington marketplace and our engaged alumni network provide incredible opportunities for Maryland to position itself as a leader in real estate development education and research,” said Saginor. “The Colvin Institute has been an essential partner in our first 20 years, and growth will be critical to realizing our vision for the next 20 years to position us as a real estate leader for the future of Maryland.”
A widely-published researcher and educator in both real estate development and urban planning, Saginor joined UMD in 2023 as the first tenured faculty member to join the Real Estate Development’s rapidly growing program. He is a CREDA (formerly NAIOP) Distinguished Fellow and is regularly tapped by media for his expertise on the U.S. housing market, transit, land use policy and other aspects of real estate development. He has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of Real Estate Literature and the Journal of Sustainable Real Estate and was chair and commissioner of the Delray Beach Housing Authority for almost a decade. Outside the classroom, Saginor is a sought-after advisor on strategies to boost economic growth and redevelopment opportunities for government agencies and professional organizations.
Learn more about Saginor in his bio.