Full Text of Report to the Institute's Board of Advisors Presented by Jack S. Nyman, Director - November 10, 2010

Message From The Director - Jack S. Nyman

Photo of Jack Nyman in Office Our Institute’s founder, William Newman, is legendary for his business acumen. His philanthropy is equally impressive. To borrow from the field of sustainability, I’d say he situated our Institute in a particularly advantageous niche in the real estate ecosystem: our mission areas crosscut the academic, commercial, and public policy realms.

The advantages are significant. We’re able to form working relationships with an exceptionally broad range of individuals, corporations, agencies, and institutions. This equips us to steadily expand our knowledge and insights. And this in turn enriches our curriculum, research, publications, and public events.

Now — with transformational change washing through the economy, with the real estate industry challenged by urgent sustainability goals as well, and with governments at every level challenged fiscally — our ability to gather, assess, synthesize, and share information matters more than ever.

We have a keen, respectful sense of the complexity of the forces now in play and of the decision making that’s shaping the city’s future in real time. We prize the sense of community that’s emerging from our expanding network of relationships. We want that community to be hospitable to the broadest range of interests and viewpoints. We’re excited by the abundant opportunities for collaborations that can advance the knowledge base and help inform decision makers.

I hope that this web site, a total redesign of our former site, will become a virtual meeting ground for our community — serving, and in part shaped by, its members. I invite your contributions to its pages and am eager to see what materializes on them.

But wonderful as this virtual realm is, I also hope you’ll attend our public events, which are attracting an enthusiastic and growing audience. To welcome you in person will be my greatest pleasure.

Jack S. Nyman, Director
The Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute
Baruch College, CUNY

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