Deeply rooted
in a solid foundation
“It’s not what is poured into a student that counts, but what is planted.”
Presented at...
May 30, 2014 75 years of Real Estate & Construction Management Education Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver Thank you to
for their Foundation Sponsorship
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Dedicated to...
T
his book is dedicated, foremost, to our past, present and future students, who build, lead and thrive within the rewarding, challenging and most essential of all industries - real estate and the built environment. This book is also dedicated to the committed faculty members, both appointed and adjunct, who over the years and into the present share their knowledge, expertise and valuable experience with our students. It is they who our students remember the most and without whom there would be no program. It is also dedicated to our extremely generous Friends and Supporters who through sharing either their time or treasure have enriched the educational experience of our students. Whether it is through guest lectures in the classroom, creation of scholarships, underwriting student practicums, travel or competitions or through their understanding that a great school needs continued support for education beyond the academic classroom; it all enriches the traditional educational process.
Researching the history of our program was only possible through the assistance of the capable team at our DU Archives office led by Steven Fisher, Kate Crowe and Jill Ritterbacher as well as the persistence of our Graduate Assistant Jason Hensel and our Wonder-Working Students Carlos Villar and Hannah Maldonado – who were always willing to do “more.” And last, but certainly far from least, this book is dedicated to the past and present staff members of the Burns School who truly care and are always there for students, every day, every year supporting them and the program above and beyond what can possibly be expected. There has never been a more exciting time for the Burns School. We look forward to the future with a secure knowledge that we will be providing an excellent education and elevated experiences that are essential to thrive in a very challenging environment. It is our goal to continue building on the deep roots of the current program; to encompass and sustain the entire Built Environment… and to supply to our industry bright, eager and capable students who can lead into the future.
“Man’s mind stretched by a new idea never goes back to its original dimensions.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
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Introduction
“Advancing the business of the Built Environment one student at a time” — Barbara Jackson
.
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W
e have often been referred to as a “non-traditional” program within a College of Business. Yet, consider that the economies of every leading country and the work and lives of its people are all reliant upon the success of the built environment industry. The quality of it reflects the wealth, or lack of wealth, of a nation. And, whether one is enjoying leisure
time through travel, recreation, shopping or entertainment, our industry provides the means to enjoy it. There is neither one person nor one business in the developed world not reliant upon this industry. We are the unifying and most essential element of all business. We truly are the Roots.
Letter from the Director of the Burns School
I
t has been my distinct honor to become the director of the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management during the year of its 75th anniversary. When I joined the Burns School and the Daniels College of Business in the fall of 2013, I immediately noticed the pioneering spirit that emanates throughout the DU campus—one that is unique among business schools and real estate programs. It was this spirit, and the unique position that the RECM program holds within the Daniels College of Business that drew me to the Burns School.
Dr. Barbara Jackson, PhD, DBIA Director
Where most other real estate curricula exist as a tagon concentration within a finance major or MBA program, Burns is one of just a few stand-alone real estate programs in the country. Furthermore, no other university can boast such a unique interdisciplinary approach to real estate and construction management education. At its roots, the School has always recognized the interconnection between business, real estate, and the building industry. It is these characteristics that gives Burns is greatest competitive advantage in the marketplace, and its graduates the greatest potential for success in the industry. My goal is to build upon these unique distinctions. With input from alumni, students, and industry professionals, the faculty, staff and I embarked upon the daunting but necessary work associated with a complete program and curriculum review. Just as any business must periodically re-think their value proposition and strategic direction, so must we in the education business.
The Burns School is prepared and ready to blaze new trails once again. We realize that doing business as usual is no longer sustainable. Everything has changed in the real estate, development and construction industries since the recession of 2008 and there is no going back. As we contemplate our future, we continue to recognize the unique intersection between the business side and the build side of the real estate equation, and Burns is poised to take its integrated education approach to a whole new level. Given the competitiveness, complexity and risks associated with every kind of real estate transaction today, collaboration and integrated problem solving has never been more important. Simply teaching students the “educational dots” of business, real estate or construction management is no longer enough. Today’s challenges and risks are multi-dimensional and approaching them from a single discipline perspective will not suffice. Companies are seeking graduates who know how to connect people, purpose, and projects to deliver sustainable, comprehensive solutions. We realize that students must be grounded in the full life cycle of the built environment if they are to be prepared to lead and succeed in a real estate industry that is forever changed. This 75th year anniversary marks a whole new milestone opportunity. I am fully confident that the Burns School is headed in the right direction and will once again be recognized for its pioneering spirit and leading-edge approach to real estate and construction management education. 5
Letter from the Dean of the Daniels College of Business
A
Chuck Patti Dean of the Daniels College of Business
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s Interim Dean of the Daniels College of Business, I have had the privilege of collaborating with the faculty, staff, students and alumni of the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management. As the school celebrates its 75th year with new Director Barbara Jackson, the school has become an essential source of sharing knowledge and educating the next generation of professionals.
The Burns School is a proven leader with its nationallyranked distance learning programs, its five nonacademic certificates in the energy land management arena, numerous annual conferences, forums, and ongoing alumni events and outreach and readiness to be Pioneers. (For example, the Burns School created the first program that showcased leading women in a predominantly male dominated industry, the Women of Enterprise (WE) Forum.
During the 2008 recession and subsequent years, the real estate and construction industries were some of the hardest-hit sectors in our economy. As the U.S. economy slowly recovers, those industries are now in a transformation driven by consumers and an explosion in technological innovation. Some say that today the real estate sector has never experienced a more challenging or more exciting time.
Under the guidance of Burns Director, Barbara Jackson and the Burns faculty and staff, the school will offer an expanded curriculum focused on the full spectrum of the built environment while maintaining excellence on the real estate side of the program.
As the marketplace evolves, the schools that educate those real estate professionals with globally competitive skills who can navigate this knowledge-based industry are critical. The importance of having the Burns School within the highly ranked Daniels College of Business cannot be overstated because in today’s business environment, rigorous training in traditional business disciplines such as finance and accounting have become prerequisites for a career in real estate and the built environment.
I have the utmost confidence that the Burns School will celebrate another 75 years of continued leadership, academic growth and teaching excellence. I offer all of you my sincere and well-deserved congratulations.
In the beginning
there was the Denver Seminary.
The Burns School grew out of these humble and tenuous beginnings.
This is our story... 7
Our History As is the story of many great accomplishments, the “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” —Benjamin Franklin
University of Denver started with the idea of one person – in this case John Evans, governor of the Colorado Territory – along with the financial backing of many, to bring that vision to reality in 1864. Evans saw education as a way of helping to civilize what was essentially a very large and quite wild mining camp called Denver. But it was difficult to get a foothold and several years later the university had to temporarily close its doors due to economic instability.
Then gold was discovered in Leadville in 1880.
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The University re-opened its doors under the name of the University of Denver and, in a wise decision by leadership, decided to open a Commercial School to offer business classes to accommodate the boom. Enrollment grew from 26 when the doors opened in 1881 to 154 a few years later; 25% of the university’s total enrollment. By 1892 business classes contained forty percent of DU’s enrollment…. yet no academic degrees were ever awarded to the students of this program. The need for education was clear and Geijsbeek approached the Chancellor of the University of Denver Henry Buchtel (also the Governor of Colorado) on forming a partnership Jump ahead to 1907 where an accountant at a large mining operation in Idaho Springs, J.B. Geijsbeek, helped enact Colorado’s first CPA legislation creating a State Board of Accountancy. However, when the first CPA examination was offered in Colorado in 1908 not a single person passed the exam! The need for education was clear and Geijsbeek approached the Chancellor of the University of Denver, Henry Buchtel, (also the Governor of Colorado) on forming a partnership.
The importance of education in the subject of real estate was recognized and the seedling for the future Burns School had been planted A new School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, offering academic degrees, was approved. The initial course offerings had to be approved by the Dean of Liberal Arts to be sure they were of academic quality. While the school would be connected to the University of Denver it would be under the control of Colorado Society of CPA’s who also funded its start with $100. The University also made clear that it would not take any responsibility for its finances. It would stand or sink alone. When the school opened its doors in the fall of 1908 it had 20 students and 10 faculty members. An article in the Denver Post, April 4, 1908 quoted Geijsbeek, (who became the first dean of the school), “We do not expect to make any money out of the school.” In fact, the faculty were not paid in the early years; however if there was any extra money at the end of the year it was split among the faculty as “dividends”. Classes that were listed in the curriculum included “Contracts: Agency and Partnership; Property, Real and Personal”. The importance of education in the subject of Real Estate was recognized and the seedling for the future Burns School had been planted. (continued on page 12)
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Building Industry and Real Estate (BIRE) courses are under the Department of Marketing, Management and Advertising at DU
1938
Dolva accepts position at DU via the quickest technology of the day
1939
1940
1942
1943
1944
Pearl Harbor is attacked. U.S. enters World War II
Lowry Air Force Base opens in Denver
TV makes its debut at the New York World’s Fair
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1941
Lee Evans starts at DU and begins teaching in the Department of Management, Marketing and Advertising
The world’s largest office building, the Pentagon, is completed
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45
Franklin L. Burns Brentwood subdivision Federal Blvd. & Jewell Ave. Denver 1946
Returning GIs in class in a DU classroom above Mapelli’s Meat Market Downtown Denver
The Department of Commerce, Accountancy and Finance changes name to the College of Business Administration
1946 World War II ends
Burns Brentwood Better-Built Bungalows develop 1,200 homesites for Denver families
1947
1948
The Levittown community built in New York, kicking off the nationally-recognized tract home boom ENIAC becomes world’s first computer
Evans is promoted to Assistant Dean of the College of Business Administration and officially creates a separate BIRE department 1949
Evans becomes the first Chairperson of the BIRE department
1950
Northland, first U.S. shopping mall, opens in suburban Detroit
The College of Business Administration moves to 1445 Cleveland Place
1951
1952
Development of Las Vegas begins in full swing
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The first home of the Department of Commerce, Accounts and Finance, where Real Estate courses were taught, was in the Haish Building at Arapahoe & 14th St. in downtown Denver
(continued from page 9)
The School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance continued to operate independent of the University and thrived as it added more and more business courses. It was an interesting array of classes including short story writing, pre-law, journalism, railroad transportation and railroad transportation problems among the other already established courses. In 1921, the School – without consulting the Chancellor or the DU Board of Trustees, announced plans to build a new building near the Civic Center. This created protests in Denver as the site chosen by the School 12
of Commerce was also the site that was laid out in Denver Master Plans for a grand City and County Center as envisioned by the popular Mayor of Denver, Robert Speer. The DU Chancellor at the time, Wilbur Engle pulled in the reins. The Chairman of the Board of Trustees was authorized to release a public statement that the University did not approve of the selection of that site for the purpose of building a classroom and offices for the School of Commerce. The Dean of the School of Commerce wrote the Chancellor of the University that they could not wait ‌ for a final decision on the property and the School of Commerce will be
“forced to meet its problems of next year without the prestige that attaches to the name of the University.” Through a negotiation process the School of Commerce eventually offered the site back to the City of Denver and accepted amalgamation into the University realizing that the “best interest of the school requires continuation of the relationship with the University” (from a report Trustee Engle sent to the rest of the Board). The School agreed to convey all its assets to the Denver Seminary (as the University continues to be called legally) and in exchange, the University would erect a new building for them at the corner of 20th and Glenarm for their sole use for six years. The curriculum would not be interfered with by the University. However, the School would now be under the general control of the University; be known as a “Department” and would need to pay back the University for the new building. Also, the new Department must remain financially self-sufficient so as not to become a burden on the University.
Real Estate
was intertwined with the School of Commerce in another way; the School moved seven times. Five locations in downtown Denver and two on the current location of campus: 1908 The Haish Building, Arapahoe and 14th 1921 Grace Community Center, 210 W. 13th Street 1922 20th and Glenarm 1946 2011 15th Street
1950 1445 Cleveland Place (New construction built near the Civic Center)
Building models was an essential part of the BIRE curriculum.
1968 General Classroom Building University Park Campus (Current campus) 1999 Daniels College of Business Building Evans and University
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Establishing a Strong “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow”
As the Department of Commerce, Accounts and Finance continued to grow and include a wider variety of business courses, the real estate and building classes were taught within the Department of Management, Marketing and Advertising. And, as Denver continued to grow, the need for an education in the areas of appraisal, building management, scheduling, estimating for materials, labor, utilities and equipment,
— Anthony J. D’Angelo
materials distribution, design, financing loans, closing transactions, brokerage and property management were in demand. So many classes in this area were being created and taught by outside adjunct faculty that by 1938 it was unofficially recognized as a separate department.
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Foundation 1938-1971 When Werzil Dolva, new Chair of the Department of Management, Marketing and Advertising arrived on campus in 1941 he recognized the importance of the Building and Real Estate industries and hired Lee Evans in 1944 to teach many of these courses under his department. Lee, who was deeply entrenched in marketing also moonlighted by doing consulting for businesses and business executives consulting on their marketing programs. He started to apply his market research background to the “highest and best use� problems of real estate parcels for retail enterprises, and then to various allied housing groups such as lumber dealers, masonry and plumbing contractors and premix concrete operators, etc. Evans eventually replaced Dolva as Chairman of the Management and Marketing Department about the time that the name of the Department of Commerce, Accountancy and Finance was changed to the School of Business Administration. It was 1946 and World War II had just ended. Young men were pouring back into the country eager to start careers, marry and buy homes. The stars were in alignment for the start of something big! By 1949, Evans was appointed Assistant Dean of the College and worked under Dean Cecil Puckett. He was put in charge of Specialized Programs which were a mixture of twelve separate concentrations offered by the School of Business Administration. Puckett wanted them reviewed as to their relevance to business. The concentrations included secretarial science, insurance, real estate, government management, public administration, radio management, hotel and restaurant
management, airline and airport management, stewardess training, and building industry. Evans eliminated all programs in airline and airport management and stewardess training and combined building industry and real estate into one major. With a combined major addressing both the building and real estate sides of the much-needed housing for the country, and under the amazing leadership of Lee Evans, the program took off! With a combined major addressing both the building and real estate sides of the much-needed housing for the country and under the amazing leadership of Lee Evans the program look off. After combining Building Industry and Real Estate (BIRE) into one major Evans found that while he could get very qualified industry people to teach Real Estate, he could not do the same for the building industry side. He identified two of his undergraduate students who had great promise and encouraged them to complete an MBA in Management and gave them both a graduate assistantship to do so. The students, Raymond Emery and Eugene (Gene) Skrivan, completed their degrees and Lee hired them as instructors to teach in the BI program. Evans constantly urged them to write articles for magazines or write a book and to speak to groups in the industry. Being young and just out of school, Emery and Skrivan had no contacts, but Skrivan reached out to the editor of Practical Builder (now Professional Builder) located in Chicago. 15
Shortly after that, Evans was in Chicago for a Management Association meeting and stopped by to see that same editor, James Lange. Instead of going to the Management Association meeting, Evans spent three days talking to Lange about his program at DU and what he wanted to accomplish there. He also talked about the management seminars that he started with the trades. Lange told him that he would publish anything that he or his faculty wrote on the home building business. He also promised he would get Lee on the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Convention program as a speaker. Lange was focused on helping homebuilders grow professionally and he saw Lee Evans as a capable leader to reach that goal on a national level. Lee saw these opportunities not only as a way to advance his own reputation but the reputation of the BIRE program at the University of Denver. Upon returning to Denver, Evans, Skrivan and Emery invited two DU accounting professors, Jerome Kesselman and Bruce McCosh and a business law professor, James J Johnston to work on a book and preparation for a three-day management seminar for home builders. James Lange published the book in 1953 and the DU group gave their
first three-day seminar in Philadelphia in 1955. They gave twenty-nine more national three-day seminars before the end of 1959. The seminars brought good management and marketing theory and practices to thousands of home builders across the country. Evans introduced using a Chart of Accounts to builders and two of his accounting systems were adopted by the NAHB. By the mid-60’s, he had developed manual systems for control of quality and timeliness of construction. He moved his programs to IBM punch card equipment and floppy disks. In the early 1970’s he was involved in a project to design a fully integrated software system called Total Office Management, aka “TOM”. Evans taught in the classroom what he taught in his seminars and the reputation of University of Denver and their Department of Building Industry and Real Estate soared. Practically any homebuilder who had college-age children sent them to the BIRE program at DU. They also sent their choices for up-coming managers at all levels. Lee Evans left teaching in 1971 to pursue his consulting business. With his wife and business partner, Virginia, they created an amazing professional career leading professional education of the housing industry across the country. In 2000 Lee and Virginia generously gave back to the Burns School as an acknowledgement for the start it gave them. They created the largest scholarship endowment that the program had received up to that time. The Lee and Virginia Evans Scholarship Fund was established to help undergraduate students who plan to enter the homebuilding business. Through that scholarship, Lee’s legacy and positive influence on the School continues into perpetuity. Ray Emery continued to teach and write publications for the department until his death in 1972.
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Profiles of Leadership Director Lee Evans Lee Evans grew up in poverty after his father died of influenza before he was two years old. His mother, Jennie Lee Evans, lost the ranch they were buying in Superior, Colorado and they moved their few possessions, pack horses and several milk cows to Eldora, Colorado (located in the Happy Valley Mining Placer) where his grandfather had traded a horse and a dog for a cabin. (When Lee had asked his grandfather, “Why the dog?” the reply was “Because he was a friend of the horse!”) In Eldora, Jennie ran a small horse business and she sold milk for additional income. As a child and teenager, Lee guided tourists into the mountains for horseback rides and camping trips. His work was hard; shoeing horses, packing supplies to sheep camps and milking the cows. This was in addition to doing the many chores necessary for living in a primitive cabin; such as carrying water, chopping wood for heating and cooking, etc. In Eldora they were able to take advantage of the free range available on public lands. In the winter months, they moved the animals and themselves down to Louisville and lived with his grandfather. Lee’s early life was hard work helping his mother eke out an existence, but he had many good memories. He credits the hard work and meager living for his strong drive to succeed during his later years. He never again wanted to experience the poverty of his youth.
The same year that he started at DU he bought 667 acres of mountain land in Nederland, Colorado. He built twelve cabins and completed his dream of owning a mountain recreation business. Lee built a house for his mother on what he named The Arapaho Ranch. It is a quintessential, stunningly-beautiful mountain property in all four seasons. Four wagon wheels and parts of an old wagon sit in the front of his property. They are the remains of the wagon that carried Lee to Eldora when he was two years old.
Lee realized that education was a way out of poverty. He started at the University of Colorado with the goal of studying Forestry. His dream was to purchase some land and start a dude ranch. He switched from Forestry to Business. He earned an MBA from Northwestern University School of Business in 1941. While in school, Lee said that many of the faculty were good to him and helped him in many ways and he decided that he would also like to teach at some point in his career. That point came after earning his MBA. For the next three years he continued to work toward a doctorate, during which time he taught at Northwestern. Being used to hard work, concurrent with his studies and teaching, Lee took a position as Investments Manager of an investment trust. Investors in the trust included Herbert Hoover whom Lee got to know quite well and for whom he gathered data for his speeches in the U.S. Senate. Lee also did some editing on Hoover’s book, “Problems of Lasting Peace.” He added a full-time job in early 1942 with the Navy Department Bureau of Yards and Docks (BUDOCKS) purchasing and expediting equipment for the Construction Battalion at advance bases in the Pacific theatre during WWII. (Lee had been classified 4F, but wanted to contribute to the war effort). When the BUDOCKS work was taken over by the Naval Inspectors in late 1944, Lee returned to Colorado and was hired by the University of Denver. He quickly became Assistant Dean. It was in that role that he formalized the existing construction and real estate program into a stand-alone department within the School of Business Administration and also took the helm as Chair of the new Building Industry and Real Estate (BIRE) Department.
Lee Evans was an excellent networker, a deal maker and an iron willed but compassionate man who wanted to help others. His personal motto was, “Compel events to conform to plans.” He planned his work and worked his plan. His story is one of poverty, riches, challenges and opportunities. He was the perfect persona to help create the early years of the Burns School.
Lee left teaching at DU in 1971 and pursued an extremely successful consulting career with homebuilders and presenting seminars. Lee’s wide management background made him particularly suited for these occupations and he became internationally known for his expertise in management for home builders. He built his career on integrity and hard work – traits he often credits back to the hard work he endured as a youth. In 1988 Evans was named into the National Association of Home Builders Housing Hall of Fame and by 1999 he was named as one of the “One Hundred Most Influential People” in the housing industry in the Twentieth Century. His plaque is right next to the one honoring Harry S. Truman. Lee passed away November 7, 2009. He is survived by his gracious wife and business partner of 40 years, Virginia Evans. Virginia lives today in the remodeled, yet modest home that Lee had built originally for his mother many years ago on their beautiful Arapaho Ranch.
Lee and Virginia Evans at their Arapaho Ranch
More information about Lee Evans is available through his autobiography, “From Happy Valley to the Mountaintop” (Daniel Publishing Group - Boulder, Colorado - 2002)
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Joining Lee Evans, were several faculty from BIRE, Accounting and Law, planning the first major national seminar in Philadelphia. Left to right: Lee S. Evans, DU; Raymond J. Emery, DU; James M. Lange, executive editor, PRACTICAL BUILDER; Gene T. Skrivan, DU; Frank Collins, NAHB; William Johnson, Philadelphia Home Builders Assoc.; Richard Canavan, NAHB; Cecil Puckett, Dean of DU; James Johnston, DU; and Jerome Kesselman Led by Lee Evans, the group (above) published an industry book and made their first presentation to homebuilders in Philadelphia 1953
Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine is proven effective
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1954
Brown v. Board of Education ends “separate but equal” school facilities
1955
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama
1956
Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel” was a number one hit
Denver’s leading executives in homebuilding, hear about “New Home Clinics” for prospective new home buyers. From left to right: Gene Skrivan, University of Denver Building Industry and Real Estate Department explains the details to Lou Carey, President of the Denver Assn. of Home Builders; Sam Russell of Burns Realty, Denver Board of Realtors; O.K. Stocksberry, OK Lumber and Hardware, and Anthony Bowler of The Jordan Finance Company
1957
Dr. Seuss published “The Cat in the Hat”
1958
1959
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60
Well-dressed students at the lumber yard learning to recognize quality
The Blue Book, a long time standard in Real Estate Brokerage
Franklin L Burns and Joy S. Colwick get married
1961
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee published
BIRE offered practical and hands-on education which included taking inventory for businesses and building home models.
1962
Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” started the environmental protection movement
1963
1964
The British Invasion kicks off with The Beatles’ appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
1965
1966
The World’s Fair takes place in New York. The Unisphere is the central icon
1967
First Superbowl held - played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
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Mike Crean and Mark Levine
The Ellwood TableEarly appraisal and finance method
The College of Business Administration moves to the General Classroom Building on the University Park Campus, now known as Sturm Hall
1968
1969
Apollo 11 lands on the moon
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Lee Evans leaves the University of Denver to pursue consulting
1970
1971
Walt Disney World opens in Florida
Mike Crean becomes Director Name of school changes from BIRE to RECM
1972
Mark Levine is hired
1973
Sydney Opera House opens
1974
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RECM newsletter announcing the new MBA-RECM curriculum
Chuck Shinn is hired
75
1976
Sears Tower completed
Students attend the NAHB Annual Conference for the first time
Franklin L. Burns inducted into the NAHB Housing Hall of Fame
1977
Elvis dies
NAHB began offering student memberships as a result of DU student efforts
1978
The Bee Gee’s “Stayin’ Alive” was a number one hit
1979
MBA is created for the Real Estate and Construction Management department
1980
New Urbanism, urban planning and design movement started to reduce dependence on cars by mixing residential and commercial real estate
1981
1982
First woman appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court
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“Education is only a ladder to gather fruit from
The program expanded its area of teaching heavily into appraisal, investment, finance and multi-family development with the hiring of Michael Crean in 1971. After he was hired, there were a total of only two full-time
the tree of knowledge,
faculty members, Crean and Matt Wahl, but someone had
not the fruit itself ”
Shortly afterwards, the program name changed from the department of Building Industry and Real Estate (BIRE) to Real Estate and Construction Management (RECM). Wahl eventually left DU to work at Cal Poly in California (Years later, Wahl encouraged Barbara Jackson to also leave Colorado to join the Cal Poly faculty). In 1975 Crean hired Mark Levine, an attorney and Ph.D. to the program who added his areas of expertise in real estate tax, real estate syndication and law. Chuck Shinn started the same year and took over the director position in 1976.
—Albert Einstein
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Continuing Strong 1971-1993...
to “run the place,” so Mike volunteered.
Shinn was working at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), based in D.C. Through NAHB he had met Lee Evans who recommended him for the teaching position at DU. Shinn’s background was business – not academic or the technical side of construction. But Shinn understood the value of promotion and he had witnessed through Lee Evans what marketing and promotion could accomplish for an academic program. When he came to Denver he immediately became involved with the local chapter of the Home Builders Association (HBA). He wanted the students to also get involved at the local and national levels, but there were no student memberships available to them. Shinn recalls that when he joined as an associate member the (continued on page 25)
Profiles of Leadership Director Chuck Shinn Chuck Shinn had no plans of becoming an “academic” during his career. He attended American University in Washington D.C. and was president of the student organization of Rho Epsilon – a national organization for real estate students affiliated with the National Association of Realtors. After graduation with his MBA he was into a seven year career with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) which was located in Washington, D.C. He had moved up the ranks quickly to Assistant to the Executive Vice President. One of his roles while at NAHB was working to train homebuilders in management best practices. Through this role at the NAHB, Shinn met Lee Evans. Evans was winding down his role as Director of the Department of Building Industry and Real Estate at the University of Denver and was keeping an eye out for a replacement. He wanted the strong ties with the homebuilding industry to remain as part of the curriculum at DU. He liked what he saw in Chuck Shinn. Shinn flew to Denver in a snow storm and drove from the airport to the Evans’ Arapaho Ranch in rural Nederland to visit with Lee about the DU opportunity. (No one can confirm the urban legend about a bottle of wine and a twisted arm, and we will not spread that rumor further.) Within days of that visit in Nederland, the Dean of the Business College, Peter Firmin, called Shinn to offer him a teaching position at DU. Although he did not consider himself an academic, Shinn completed his Ph.D. in 1981. He also thrived teaching classes at DU. He was the “construction guy” in a small department that consisted of Mike Crean and Mark Levine – both on the real estate side. Shinn’s focus was residential construction and light commercial construction. Classes at that time centered on land development, purchasing, estimating materials and methods, cost accounting, management, and general business courses. At that time about half the students came from home-building families. When Shinn came to DU, he brought the national headquarters of Rho Epsilon, the national student fraternity, with him. Chuck and his wife, Emma, lived close to campus. He and Emma opened their home up to the students and often felt like “mom and dad – away from home”. When it came time to go to the NAHB convention in Dallas or Houston – The Shinn family van was used to take the students, hauling their booth contents in a trailer behind them. Like everything else, Shinn ran the NAHB Conference trips like a business; assigning breakouts to certain students and requiring reports on what they learned. He was an excellent teacher in and out of the classroom.
Chuck and Emma loved being around the students and learned almost as much from them as they learned from him. Chuck tells a story about a student who used to bring his dog to class. Once ski season started, the student went skiing but the dog kept coming to class. Chuck said the dog got a better education than the student did. Each quarter there was an event for students hosted at the Shinn home or Mark and Ellen Levine’s home. Before each graduation in May, Chuck and Emma hosted a reception for students and their parents. They fondly recalled the year that a student’s family from Maine sent two crates of live lobsters to their home for the party. It was changing times in this era; computerization had hit the business world and was entering education arenas fast. Chuck stayed on top of it. Both Chuck and Emma were business consultants for an early homebuilding program called FAST and also consulted with Lee Evans, for the TOM (Total Office Management) system. Shinn recalls having Pat Hamill (current DU Trustee and President of Oakwood Homes) as a student. Pat was Chuck’s student aid who also became a consultant working on the FAST system with Chuck. Shinn said it was difficult keeping students in class as Pat kept hiring them to do installations all across the country. Shinn noted that Hamill was always very entrepreneurial and had a huge heart, working at the Crisis Center at DU taking calls at night. Shinn remained involved with the NAHB during his entire time at DU and was moving up the ladder within that organization. When he became an active home builder and involved with industry leadership both nationally and locally, including President of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver, he left the University as he felt he could not give teaching the time the students needed. Chuck has great memories of his time as professor and director of the program. He touched numerous students and still corresponds with many of them. Chuck left a strong legacy behind which included giving RECM centralized offices, creating numerous scholarships, instituting a graduate program, and accomplishing student memberships for NAHB. Equally important, he and Emma gave the students the personal attention and nurturing environment that so many young people need when away from home. And that will never be forgotten by scores of RECM students. Emma Shinn and student Clem Williams, at NAHB Conference, circa1980
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Profiles of Leadership Director Michael Crean If you are an alumnus of the Burns School, you will most likely remember Mike Crean. He joined the RECM faculty in 1971 at the age of 24 and has been teaching since then. “Crean” (as he is affectionately called by his colleagues) was the only real estate professor and Matt Wall was the only construction management professor until Mark Levine and Chuck Shinn were hired in 1975. Hence, the RECM majors had Crean as their professor for as many as five courses, including Intro to Real Estate, Finance, Appraisal, Investment, and Urban Analysis and Development. Crean earned a B.S. degree from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania during the time that Donald Trump was also a student there. Although Crean did not know “The Donald”, he later learned that “Donnie, Jr.” was a member of Crean’s fraternity at Penn, Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji). When Crean’s older brother Marty was drafted into the U.S. Army, Crean became a Navy ROTC midshipman. In the summer of 1969, Crean was a Midshipman First class aboard the USS Horne based in San Diego, CA. While traveling back home to Connecticut by car, Crean “discovered” Boulder and Colorado. He often says that when he arrived in Boulder he thought he had “died and gone to heaven.” In 1970 Crean had received orders to report to the USS Mauna Kea, off the coast of Viet Nam. However, three weeks before graduation and being commissioned as an Ensign, Crean was medically discharged from the US Navy for migraine headaches, which the Navy doctors had diagnosed. Mike’s original goal was to become a lawyer. After taking his first real estate class at Wharton, he wanted to become a real estate lawyer. While preparing to enter night law school at University of Connecticut (UCONN), Crean had learned that UConn also offered an MBA in real estate. He switched to the MBA and set his sights on doing law school in Boulder. To be sure he got to Boulder one way or another, Crean had applied to the PhD program as well. The PhD program acceptance included a research assistantship under one of CU’s real estate professors, Clyde Richey. Being good with numbers, Crean took the better deal. Upon the death of Real Estate Professor Ray Emery at DU, Professor Richey told Mike to apply, despite still having a dissertation to write. Crean was hired by Dean Art Mason, a Wharton PhD. Law school would have to wait once again. However, love, marriage and a baby carriage were about to intervene. Shortly after earning tenure, Crean started night law school at DU. Despite having fallen in love with 24
teaching, he had to do law and maybe become a law professor. However, during the first year of law school, he decided that he really was not interested is switching careers, and the law school plans were permanently dropped. During Crean’s 41 years at DU, he taught both Jeff Engelstad and Glenn Mueller, both current faculty members of the program. He also hired Mark Levine and Stu Stein, additional current faculty members. Crean loves teaching because he enjoys the interaction with the students. He even played on the DU rugby team with teammates who were also his students. Crean played Rugby until he was 47 years old; His love of both rugby and golf were well known among his students who would refer to him as Dr. Rugby or Professor Golf. When asked why so many alumni fondly remember him, Crean thought a moment and then laughed and said, “Probably because I am large, loud and lively!”
...We Become the Department of Real Estate & Construction Management (continued from page 22)
association would only send him one magazine each month. He had 25 students in his homebuilding class so he requested 25 copies of each issue and they accommodated him. Shinn started taking students to the NAHB Annual Conference each year which was held in either Dallas or Houston, Texas. He wanted a booth to showcase the program. Shinn would arrange for NAHB to give DU a free exhibit space but as the conference attendance grew the spaces became harder to get. One year the only place they could give the students was up a ramp. Chuck and the students got there early and built another ramp sloping in the opposite direction so when joined together they created a flat surface. They loved it because they were elevated above the other exhibitors and easy to see in the crowded exhibit hall. With Shinn’s business background came excellent organizational skills. When he took over as director, the program faculty offices were spread out across the business building. The department did not have one central home. Shinn spoke with Dean Peter Firmin about this situation and asked for one location for all faculty offices. Firmin walked around the building with Shinn and pointed to an open lounge area at the end of a hallway on the third floor and said if the program could do something with that space it was theirs. Within a week, Shinn raised the money from his homebuilders circle and had architect-drawn plans for converting the space into a proper offices for the program. The department had a home. Shinn also started raising money for student scholarships and tried to accommodate every student who needed financial help. Students went to monthly meetings sponsored by the local Home Builders Association and often had the opportunity to meet and thank their scholarship donors personally. In the late 70’s two students, Beth Palmer and Craig Bleitz wanted to bring attention to the NAHB as to how many students attended the Annual
Meeting. They were pushing for student memberships both locally and nationally. Shinn helped them arrange for a reception area and the DU students worked to spread the word among all the students at the show from across the country to appear at the reception. Shinn invited senior leadership and the executive committee of NAHB to attend the same reception. About 200 – 300 students showed up which proved to NAHB leaders the impact that students will have on the future of the industry when they start their careers. NAHB started student chapters the next year. When the name of the College changed to the College of Business Administration, the department degrees changed to a BSBA – Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Shinn, Levine and Crean worked together to create, and have approved, a graduate degree program which was called an MBA with a concentration in RECM. Later, specialized MBA programs became Master of Science (MS) programs.* Chuck left the university in 1983 to pursue a career as an active homebuilder remaining heavily involved in both the HBA and NAHB. The same year, Mike Crean replaced Shinn’s teaching role with Stuart Stein and James Suksi. Suksi became director for a brief period (1984 – 1986) but then also left the University to focus his teaching in the areas of psychology. After Suksi departed, Crean took the directorship again. In 1991, as the program expanded more and more into commercial construction, J. Mark Taylor was hired. Taylor, both a Ph.D. and J.D., brought his expertise of commercial construction and construction law to the program. RECM at the University of Denver now stood out as the only program in the country that combined real estate and construction management within a college of business for both graduate and undergraduate students. *Currently the Burns School offers a BSBA, MSRECM, XRECM and an academic XRCM certificate as well as a non-academic certificate in Energy Land Management (ELM).
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Oakwood Homes Residential Practicum
The HP-12C, the most popular financial calculator during the 80’s
Stuart Stein is hired full time
1983
Glenn Mueller is hired
1985
1984
1986
Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” is a number one hit
Cash Register building in Denver completed
Cell phones become more commonplace
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Argus becomes the dominant investment analysis software
1987
First optical transatlantic fiber optic cable laid across the Atlantic
1988
1989
Berlin Wall comes down
199
90
The Real Estate EXPO is sponsored by DMCAR and The Burns School, bringing Real Estate professionals together annually
Student travel delegations begin
The Lee S. Evans Scholarship is established
1991
Franklin and Joy Burns endow the Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, May 6, 1997
Mark Levine is appointed Chair of the Department
J. Mark Taylor is hired
1992
Interstate 70 finished in Glenwood Springs, completing the interstate highway system
1993
1994
RTD Light Rail service starts in Denver
1995
1996
Denver International Airport (DIA) completed
1997
Colorado Avalanche win the Stanley Cup
Coors Field Opens
27
Creating a Presence “Will is the root, knowledge is the stem and leaves, and feeling is the flower”
Mark Levine took over as the director of the Department of Real Estate and Construction Management in the fall of 1994 and remained in that position until August 2012. Levine contributed his areas of expertise in tax, law and syndications with a strong emphasis on the commercial side of real estate. This allowed the program to grow in the field of mixed use development. His goal
—Sterling
when he became director was, “To raise the quality of the program with proper recognition.” He reached out to the commercial industry with two industry-focused educational programs; the Spring Update and the Fall Forecast. Doing so, he filled a gap in professional education by inviting top industry leaders to the podium to share their challenges and best practices.
28
in Commercial Real Estate 1994-2012 The Fall event included leaders in the various segments of the industry (industrial, multi-family, office, retail, etc.,) to give their perspectives on coming trends. An Honorary Dean of Real Estate and Construction Management was also chosen on an annual basis and this brought additional interest and support from the industry. In 1996, the Executive Director of the Denver Metro Commercial Association of Realtors® approached Levine and asked him to strengthen their association’s program by partnering with them, combining DU’s Annual Fall Forecast with DMCAR’s EXPO. This partnership created the largest commercial real estate conference in the state and continued successfully for nineteen years. Eventually, RECM offered seven professional education conferences annually. Levine was willing to take well calculated chances and one of these was a distance learning program that was launched in 1999 as an Executive Master’s academic program and a separate academic certificate program. When presenting it to Dean Jim Griesemer, the Dean agreed with the concept and gave the go-ahead but cautioned that the college would not financially support the startup. He also assured Levine that if the program was successful then the college would also not share in any
profits. The program is currently in its 15th year and has led the way for distance learning across the University of Denver campus. RECM continued to honor the tradition of homebuilding in the curriculum and brought back Stu Stein, (who had left to head the Women’s College), to become a part of the regular faculty. Stu worked to build the success of the Practicum Class. The Practicum was taught in partnership with alumnus Patrick Hamill, who had become an extremely successful homebuilder in Colorado and President of Oakwood Homes. Mark Taylor was successful in also adding a Commercial Practicum experience to the program. Heavily involved in Associated Schools of Construction (ASC), Taylor brought the first ASC Conference to the University of Denver Campus in 1999. When he decided to return to his native state of Alabama in 2006 to teach at Auburn, Mark Taylor was replaced by Hazem Elzarka who brought a focus on Sustainability to RECM. Current faculty member Stephen Sewalk joined in 2007 and brought expertise in Engineering and Construction as well as Energy. On the real estate side, Levine hired former students Jeffrey Engelstad (Urban Development) and Glenn Mueller (Real Estate Investment Trusts), as well as Ron Throupe (Appraisal). All three currently remain teaching at Burns.
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The Franklin L. Burns “Education’s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one” —Malcolm Forbes
When Franklin and Joy Burns wrote a check for five million dollars and handed it to the University of Denver’s real estate and construction management program, Steve Raabe of the Denver Post wrote in an article dated May 13, 1997, “The money’s great of course, for the school, its students and professors…but is great…too because it has re-opened the book on Franklin Burns and his legacy in Denver real estate…What most of us don’t know is that Burns was a visionary Denver homebuilder and residential developer who was fighting the battle for affordable housing long before many of us were born.”
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Endowment A Department Becomes a School Franklin Lane Burns was a native of Denver, Colorado and a University of Denver Alumnus. Burns was acclaimed as Denver’s premier home builder in the 1940’s and 1950’s and continued to bring affordable housing to low-income families. A visionary, he built houses whose prices were in line with returning veterans’ tight budgets by offering FHA financing, and he stood behind the quality of his product with a written construction warranty. Burns built his first speculative home in 1939, a two room dwelling of 288 square feet which sold for $1,250. This model evolved into a 4 ½ room bungalow designed to be delivered to the purchaser in a partially completed state and was aptly called the “Handyman House”. Homeowners installed the walls, cabinets, floor covering and fixtures. Those who weren’t handy could purchase a finished house at additional cost. It met all FHA standards and Burns became one of the first builders to offer FHA loans.
months; periodic, thorough inspections for three years; a planned service arrangement on mechanical repairs and competent counsel from the Burns Field superintendent on construction changes and maintenance.”
In 1946, Burns conceived Burns Brentwood, a subdivision built on farmland west of Denver. This concept of a housing development of Burns Better-Built Bungalows showcased distinctive Burns’ “firsts”: A subdivision concept; a package mortgage; a written construction warranty and a shopping center incorporated into the plan. Nearly 1,200 home sites were developed on this 200-acre tract southwest of Federal Boulevard and Jewell Avenue. The construction warranty was the first offered in Colorado. It was the first time a builder stood behind their product and it provided, “Adjustments made without charge during the first six
for your clients and you’ll achieve
Burns achieved national status in 1948 winning two awards for soundness of its construction and design, ingenuity and originality from the National Association of Home Builders. Burns also participated in the 1953 “Operation Trade Secrets” home campaign featured in Life magazine. Their featured home incorporated advanced ideas (“trade secrets”) which included a complete bath plus powder room, bedroom doors leading onto an enclosed patio, a windowed wall with a view of the Rockies, and “unlimited furniture arrangements in each room”. Burns expanded from low income housing into new developments such as Cherry Hills Vista that placed more luxurious homes of the time within reach of average-income families. Focus on integrity and performance certain success.” — Franklin L. Burns In the 1960’s and 1970’s, the company ceased building houses. Instead, it focused on acquiring and selling commercial properties. After riding out the volatile market of the 1980’s, D.C. Burns Realty and Trust Company aggressively re-entered commercial real estate by establishing a new brokerage division to market its listings and assets. (continued on page 34) 31
The Executive Masters (XRCM) in Residence Program brought online students to campus
Mark Lee Levine Endowed Chair (2007)
Daniels College of Business moves to new building in 1999
Jeff Engelstad is hired
1998
Petronas Towers Completed
Burns School launches an Executive Master’s distance learning program
1999
Pepsi Center Opens
2000
Women of Enterprise (WE) launches as the first womanfocused real estate conference
First XRCM Graduating Class
2001
Mile High Stadium Opens
2002
Destruction of the iconic Twin Towers in 9.11 attack in New York City
2003
2004
2005
The Human Genome Project is completed
First iPod released
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200
06
Nota Bene J.J Johnston, beloved Professor and friend of the Burns School, dies 9.6.08 Annual NAIOP Competition 1st place in 2014
Annual NAHB Competition 3rd place in 2014
(Out of 34 Schools nationwide)
Ron Throupe is hired
2007
Pluto gets demoted
Stephen Sewalk is hired
2008
2009
The start of the largest recession in recent history, dramatically affecting the Real Estate and Construction industries
(DU earns 7th win of 12 competitions against CU)
The Burns School launches the Energy Land Management Program
2010
The worlds tallest building Burj Khalifa 2,716ft high with 160 floors opens in Dubai
2011
Barbara Jackson is hired as the new Director of the Burns School
Don McCubbrey served as Interim Director
2012
The final U.S. Presidential Debate is held at DU
2013
2014
World Trade Center One opens, stands at 1,776 feet
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(continued from page 31)
University of Denver Chancellor, Dan Ritchie and Dean of the Business College, Jim Griesemer were both businessmen who had invested in real estate. They got to know Joy and Franklin Burns through the industry and introduced them to Mark Levine and the Real Estate and Construction Management program. Franklin became very interested in the educational program and conversations began around how to partner with the University to support the program. Franklin was a tough negotiator, according to Levine, “A hard dealer but a good man.” He was a businessman who left no “i’s un-dotted, nor “t’s” uncrossed; a stickler for detail. Mark recalls a story when he, along with Jim Griesemer and Dan Ritchie, met Franklin and Joy for dinner. Mark was so certain that the negotiations regarding a gift to the school would be completed at that dinner, that he had a large plaque engraved in stone to thank the Burns’ for their donation. He arrived early and asked the restaurant staff to put it in a closet until the moment arrived where he would present it to Franklin. When Mark perceived that moment had arrived, he stood up, reached across the table to shake Franklin’s hand and Franklin said, “Wait! Not so fast… there are still some details I need to look into yet.” Mark had to take the plaque back and wait for another day. Levine recalls that Franklin’s vision for the school, no question, included a “High degree of integrity and honesty he wanted transferred over into our classes.” Levine also remembered that Franklin’s charge to him was to always do the right thing for the students. It was a strong element that motivated him to endow the program. Franklin and Joy Burns’ endowment changed a department into a “School”. They created a gift that allowed the means to help Mark Levine to accomplish his original goal as a director, “To raise the quality of the program with proper recognition.” 34
With the help of the Franklin and Joy Burns endowment, the School gained a strong national reputation in the area of commercial real estate and gained a foothold at the international level. Students who attended the program were no longer mainly from home building families, but now also included the sons and daughters of developers, owners, managers, bankers; a more expanded field in the broad arena of the industry. In 2007, Joy Burns allowed the endowment to create an Endowed Chair for Mark Levine. By this time the Burns staff was self-sustaining through the efforts of all the activities in which the School participated. Successful outreach efforts grew scholarships and increased faculty budgets for travel and research. The Burns Endowment helped enhance the educational experience for students and brought the Burns School program front and center to industry’s attention resulting in additional recruiting opportunities and scholarship support. The School will forever be grateful for the generosity and faith of Franklin and Joy Burns.
*Much of the information of Franklin L. Burns was taken from the University of Denver’s Builders Series, Franklin L. Burns, Master Builder
Profiles of Leadership Director Mark Lee Levine Mark was born with an entrepreneurial spirit. He recalls his first business venture was a lemonade stand he started around the age of 10. Having one stand was good, but having five or six more was better; and, he hired friends to run them. Later, he opened a fireworks stand while in high school. It performed well and he opened another...and then another. Eventually he had stands from Fort Collins through Colorado Springs and into Aurora. At one point he realized a basic business concept: How vulnerable he would be focusing on only one product. If it rained July 1st, 2nd or 3rd, he could be bankrupt as those were the three busiest days in the fireworks business. So he diversified and opened seasonal Christmas tree lots in the winter and continued his business model of expansion. Eventually Mark purchased fireworks directly from China and trees from brokers in Oregon and in Washington State who would give him the best deals. He also learned the value of educating himself on legal and tax issues. Mark managed these successful businesses throughout high school and college. Mark always liked owning real estate. He thought it made sense - every business needs a place to lease or own and every person needs a place to live. He had also learned the value of “location” through his fireworks and tree businesses. As he accumulated some funds, he invested it in real estate. At first this involved rental houses; and then he diversified into other areas. At one time he and his wife owned all the Jack-In-The-Box restaurants in Colorado. Some ideas went well, and some did not. But the overall score was a win. Mark worked for Arthur Young (now Ernest & Young) who gave him a “full ride” for an education at Northwestern University, Chicago. After college, he studied law, “because you have to know the rules.” While in law school, his ability to read and retain what he read was well applied. He recalls Contract Law was one of his favorite law courses. He memorized the Restatement of Contracts so he would know most of the basic contract law, when needed. A faculty member during Levine’s first year in law school, realizing Levine had committed the body of law to memory offered him a job. He also memorized the Constitution, which proved “helpful” when he took constitution law. He said, in an understatement, “It was easier to relate questions about the law to a piece of the Constitution.” Levine graduated from New York University, Tax Law Program but always continued his education through earning a number of licenses and certifications. Levine practiced in a variety of areas, including real estate law, investments, tax, business, tax and real estate consulting, and expert testimony work, all which helped him understand and continue to survive and thrive in the economic cycles of the up and down markets. He applied his basic principle of diversification to his career. “Real Estate can be a major source of income,” he acknowledges, “but you need to supplement it when the cycle is down.”
While he was in school, he also recognized he enjoyed teaching. He helped others who were having trouble in school and received great satisfaction from explaining ideas in new ways and seeing it could be understood in more ways than one. He knew that teaching would be in his future, because he enjoyed seeing people he helped succeed. He says, “I taught because I loved it and I stayed in business because I needed it.” He first taught at the University of Colorado. He also travelled teaching for CCIMs, CPAs, and other groups throughout the US and Canada. He became a full-time professor at Metro State for a short time and left there to teach at the University of Denver in 1975. Mark taught in both the Department of Real Estate and Construction Management and the Department of Legal Studies. When he became chairman the RECM department in 1994 he also chaired the Department of Legal Studies for about 8 years. Under Mark’s leadership the RECM program grew from a “Department” into a “School,” and gained national and international recognition as well as excellent industry support, which resulted in increased scholarships for students. Mark’s teaching and scholarship honors include being awarded three Fulbright Grants, spent in teaching and consulting in China and the UAE; Faculty recognition as a DU Author of some 22+ books and another 35+ revisions to books; the Hubert Nelson Grant of Appraisal Research in International Real Estate; teaching and speaking in 49 states and 130+ other countries. Levine was able to build a tremendous reputation for himself, much as Lee Evans had done, by traveling and speaking and being known nationally as an expert in the areas of real estate tax and tax law. While no longer Director of the School, Levine continues to teach, write, travel, serve on many boards and still play his beloved basketball which he starred at while at George Washington High School in Denver. Although his accomplishments are many, Mark considers his family, which includes his wife, Ellen, daughters Abbi and Libbi (and sons-in-law Aviv and Alon) and now three grandchildren, Liat, Maytal and Eyal to be a large part of his greatest blessings and what is “success” in life. When asked, what was the highlight of being a Director at the Burns School, his answer came quickly with a smile, “Being the past-Director!” Mark Levine’s business tip for students? Diversification! “Diversification means economic sustainability.” He suggests that everyone try to read Thomas Freidman’s book, The World is Flat. Levine explains that the book expounds on the concept that “every person needs to be needed, economically; and, if your skills and ability are not needed, your opportunity for favorable employment is very slight”. Mark is practicing what he preaches, and his background as an attorney, teacher, investor, consultant, real estate broker, appraiser, property manager, author, etc. is evidence of the same. 35
Envisioning a new future “Wisdom begins with wonder” —Socrates
On January 31, 2014, the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management in the Daniels College of Business at DU hosted an all-day “Visioning Event” to discuss the future of the industry and how education can best prepare students for this new future. Thirty-six Real Estate and Construction professionals representing several sectors of the industry, from across the country, joined Dr. Barbara Jackson, Director of the Burns School, and several faculty members in a 7 hour facilitated workshop to discuss the following questions: • How have the Real Estate and Construction industries changed since the 2008 recession? • What impact have these changes had on the way we do business? • How would we identify and define the business of the built environment in a holistic manner? • What does the new RE/AEC professional look like? • What would the education of these new professionals look like?
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The purpose of this facilitated session was to define the business of the built environment in a holistic manner, and how together the various parties might re-frame the conversation regarding the industry’s collective value proposition, the professional roles associated with that value proposition, and the educational foundation necessary to perform within this new framework. The select group of 36 real estate, design and construction, and facilities professionals spent the day together and benchmarked 5 key themes by which the Burns School will re-shape its program to reflect the new future of real estate and construction: 1. Technology and a commitment to sustainability have changed how people live and how they work. These two factors have changed the entire landscape of what is desired and needed in the built environment. 2. How our customers, clients, stakeholders, and end-users define value in real estate has changed. There is great risk in assuming that what was wanted and needed in the past is what is wanted and needed in the future. 3. Culture is king in the new economy. Workplace engagement is directly correlated with productivity and profitability, and real estate directly correlated with worker engagement. With workplace engagement still less than 30% in the US, companies must focus on harnessing their value generation potential by creating spaces that attract the best talent and the innovation that talent produces. Design and space matter more than ever. 4. Performing design and construction in an integrated fashion reduces risk, adds value, and helps developers and investors solve the many
Th e
for the Burns School 2014 and Beyond
challenges associated with deals work inof today’s economy. Themaking Burns School Trying to Real create Estate value through a segregated services approach is too risky & Construction Management difficult. Putting full service teams together at the earliest possible time is what is needed to optimize project solutions for all. 5.Multi-faceted skill sets have become the pre-requisite in the new economy and every employee is expected to wear more than one hat. If that is all you can bring to the table is a single discipline perspective or education, then you may be more of a liability than you are an asset. (continued on page 39) 37
Profiles of Leadership Director Barbara Jackson Growing up in rural up-state New York, Barb learned independence and self-reliance quickly. Her parents divorced when she was one-year old, and separated from her brothers, she moved in with an aunt for three years where she learned how important faith and spiritual belief is when the going gets tough. She eventually lived with her father, a skilled craftsman, and step-mother and learned the pride and accomplishment that comes from a job well-done. She has fond memories of working with him on job sites when she was only 6 and 7 years old. To this day she appreciates the opportunity she had to watch, learn, and listen as her Dad built amazing custom doors and cabinets. The smell of fresh cut lumber is still one of the sweetest connections to her childhood. After several years, her father fell upon hard economic times, and the family lost its income and their home. By the fifth grade, the family was living in a car and Barb often spent the night in the local laundromat to stay warm at night. During these trying years, school became a true sanctuary for Barb. She knew that education would be her path to success and a way out of her situation. On the last day of the sixth grade at age 12, Barb moved to Rochester NY to live with her mother and step-father. In the early 1970’s, her parents decided to move to Windsor, Colorado to work for Eastman Kodak. Barb was a junior in high school. She had worked hard to earn a NY State Regents diploma and didn’t want to give that up. She petitioned the School Board and requested to take the senior level Regents exams at the end of her junior year. Surprisingly, they granted her request. Barb managed to hire tutors and studied over the summer. She passed all of her senior exams and received her Regents Diploma just as the family headed west in 1972. This would be the first of many “petitions” that Barb would serve to accomplish a self-determined career path. Convinced that education was the key to opportunity, Jackson attended Colorado State University where she searched for a major that would satisfy her love of math and art. Starting first as an Art major, she quickly learned that although she had a great appreciation for the arts, she didn’t have the talent to become an artist. After one quarter, she switched to Interior Design but determined that this career path would leave her trying to improve upon what others had already designed and built. By the third quarter of her freshman year, she found a major that would involve both her creative and technical talents, the now defunct program called Housing and Design. This major combined aspects of urban planning, real estate, and housing policy, with courses in technical drafting and architectural design. In addition, she was required to take two courses through the Industrial Construction Management program (known as Construction Management today). Trying to design buildings when you don’t understand how they are built did not make sense to her, so she submitted a proposal to the Deans and Department Heads of both programs, asking to create a customized course of study in Housing and Design and Industrial Construction Management. Included in the proposal was an internship for credit with Carl Nelson, who at the time,
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was one of Fort Collin’s premier custom homebuilders. Her proposal was accepted, which resulted in one of the first “unofficial” Interdisciplinary Studies pilot program at CSU. The customized program increased the number of construction management courses to complement her education in real estate, planning, and architectural design. It was in one of her CM courses that she first heard the term engineer-procureconstruct (EPC). This same concept would eventually be known as design-build project delivery and become the impetus for Barb’s success throughout her career. Jackson’s first job out of college was with the Tucson Design and Development Center, Tucson, AZ. There she created project budgets for architects who often designed projects that their clients couldn’t afford to build. Jackson gained additional experience working at an engineering firm in Longmont, CO. where she learned how important infrastructure was to the development process. Now married and about to deliver her first child, she and her husband Wayne followed opportunities in Arizona and Virginia where she worked for a homebuilder and then a commercial contractor. She honed her skills in estimating and project management over the next several years but witnessed the finger-pointing between the clients, designers and contractors during the construction process. True to form, when Jackson started her company in 1984 it was a customized blend of design and construction under one roof. As President of Design-Build Services, Inc., her projects included single family residential, real estate development and light commercial. However, still frustrated by the segregated approach to projects and development that most companies took, she realized that the only way she could ever truly influence the industry toward integrated solutions would be through the formal education process of those entering the industry. In 1996, when her son was a freshman in college and her daughter still in high school, Jackson returned to Colorado State University for a Master’s Degree in Construction Management, and a PhD in Education to teach design-build at the university level. As one of a hand-full of women in the US with over 20 years’ experience in construction and a PhD, she was recruited by several universities. With an offer she couldn’t refuse from Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, CA., Barb accepted and spent 15 years as a tenured, full professor, director, and head of the Construction Management Department. While there she developed the first design-build curriculum in the country and worked with the Design-Build Institute of America to create a certification for Professional Design-Builders, which she herself proudly displays. Although she has had a great influence on the design and build side of the real estate equation, Jackson saw that the power was on the business side of the process. So in early 2013 when she saw an ad for Director of the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management, Daniels College of Business at the University of Denver she got “goose bumps.” Two things jumped to mind. First she envisioned an educational program that could truly connect all aspects and parties associated with creating integrated solutions for people and communities and secondly, she could return to Colorado where her heart has always felt at home. On August 1, 2013 Barb Jackson became the new Director of the Burns School. She believes that her entire life and career has prepared her for this position. She vows that under her leadership, the Burns School will be everything it’s always been…and much, much more!
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In the fall of 2015 the Burns School will launch a newly updated curriculum based upon the full life cycle of the built environment represented by 3 categories of courses and topics: • RE - Real Estate • PD - Project Delivery (design and construction) • FM - Facilities Management The name of the Burns School degree programs will change from Real Estate and Construction Management (RECM) to Real Estate and the Built Environment (REBE). This more holistic, comprehensive approach to real estate education embraces fundamental sustainability principles throughout the new curriculum, while maintaining the rigorous core competencies associated with the various disciplines. The already excellent real estate component will be enhanced to include new courses and topics such as planning, entitlements, and public finance. The construction management component will be expanded to include in-demand, new knowledge in integrated project delivery representing all facets of process, including pre-construction, architectural planning analysis, design phase management, and commissioning. And finally, courses and topics in facilities and asset management will be added to complete the life cycle of the built environment. Under this new curriculum model, students will first be grounded in a foundational core education representing RE, PD, and FM critical functions
and their interdependency. Once equipped with this solid underpinning, students will choose a career oriented concentration in Real Estate, Property Development, Construction Project Management, or Facilities Management at the undergraduate level. In addition, the REBE graduate programs will be re-structured to offer industry relevant and market driven areas of focus in Real Estate, Integrated Project Delivery, and Property Development. With these changes, graduates of the Burns School will be able to deliver value-added real estate solutions. Going forward, every student graduating from the Burns School will not only achieve a high level of competency in their chosen area of focus, but they will also have multi-faceted skillsets and knowledge that have become a prerequisite for RE/AEC professionals in today’s economy. The Burns School will be one of the only universities in the country to offer such a holistic, interdisciplinary educational program, giving graduates a clear edge and distinction in the marketplace and throughout their careers. The real estate industry is highly competitive and has many risks and complexities. There has never been a greater need for integrated problem solving and collaboration. Factors such as sustainability, technology and workplace engagement are top of mind for real estate professionals and customers. Burns School has a unique opportunity to build and grow an innovative program to lead the industry and most importantly, to prepare DU students for their future.
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Faculty of the Burns School Dr. Barbara Jackson Director
Dr. Michael Crean Professor
Dr. Jeffrey Engelstad Clinical Professor
Dr. Mark Levine Professor
Dr. Glenn Mueller Professor
Dr. Stephen Sewalk Assistant Professor
Stuart Stein Senior Lecturer
Dr. Ron Throupe Associate Professor
Diana Fredericks Air Methods
George Thorn Mile High Development, LLC
If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees, if in terms of 100 years, teach the people — Confucius
Executives in Residence
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Adjunct Faculty Kyle Cascioli Summit Investment Management
Ed Fronapfel SBSA, Inc.
Joseph Havey Ecube, Inc.
Steve Session Sessions Group, LLC
Michael Sunoo Law Office of Michael Sunoo
Mark Van Ark KW Commercial
Lora Hacker Distance Learning Manager
Debra Ortlip ELM Program Coordinator
Candace Rusk Program Recruiter
Jim Meurer J.R. Meurer & Co., Inc.
Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have. — Margaret Mead
Staff Members Marie Kline Director of Operations
Ceci Smith Assistant to the Director
*We would like to acknowledge all of our past faculty, adjuncts and staff, but due to space limitations, only current Burns faculty, adjuncts and staff are pictured. 41
Our Alumni a taste of the industry “Do you earn this degree to sell houses?” A question that we occasionally still hear from prospective students and parents. The answer is “You can….but let me tell you what else you can do with this degree.” So many exciting career paths are available to our students. The following are just a few stories of the interesting, and varied careers shared by alumni... (Also enjoy the array of photos depicting our alumni and friends over the years)
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Jacque Bauer, class of 2006, is a very petite woman who loves construction. She often wears pink safety glasses and has been known to alter her construction safety vests so they don’t hang down to her knees. Bauer’s father, a custom home builder in Arvada, cautioned his daughter not to get into construction. It is very hard on a body even if you are not “swinging a hammer.” Bauer remembers meeting girlfriends for drinks after work and they would show up in business skirts and heels where she wore muddy jeans and boots with “hard-hat hair.” But, she grew up on construction sites and her mom’s obstacles as a female engineer in the 1980’s reminded her that she could excel alongside men if she chose to. As a freshman at DU (there was no delayed admission to Daniels at the time), Jacque took an Intro to Real Estate course with Jeff Engelstad and got hooked. That summer she worked with the Daniels Career Center and found an internship at Kiewit Construction. She interviewed and got the position. She found out later that Kiewit had actually already closed the internship, but when Jacque contacted them they felt like she was the perfect fit for the project at the Women’s Colleges’ Chambers Center. A woman in construction was not common. She loved the Kiewit experience because “They let me get my hands dirty immediately,” says Jacque. “That was important – there was no coddling.” Her first assignment was performing inspections on-site excavation. They gave her a checklist and showed her how to look for safety concerns. She was taught what to look for and she was also learning. She completed three summer internships with Kiewit and although offered a job, wanted to experience the development side of the industry. She was hired to work on a joint venture project with Related Companies and the Thomas J. Klutznick firm in Phoenix, AZ. Jacque helped manage and coordinate the development budget, tenant improvements, and project-wide LEED and sustainability efforts for a 145-acre master plan development. They let me get my hands dirty immediately, that was Unfortunately, the economy did not cooperate with the project plans and important – there was no two years later, the project was stymied.
coddling.
recommendation to another professional. She also recommends keeping a portfolio of work to showcase what you have done. “If you can work hard and excel in college,” she said, “you will do the same in the working world. College is a slice of the real world. Most people won’t be working to their maximum and if you do, you will stand out. Jump into your career with both feet and you will thrive.”
Jacque returned to Denver and was hired on again by Kiewit to work on the Union Station redevelopment project. She headed the design management of the public space which also included all of the Plazas and streetscapes. The designers were in New York and Chicago and she had to price out their designs to assess if they would be within budget and give feedback on their constructability. The RTD Bus Station portion of the project is built in a nearly 1000-foot-long tunnel 27 feet underground and required four-foot thick reinforced concrete to weigh down the water table. Jacque’s work, which focused on landscaping over that same tunnel, created challenges as the ground was only 18 inches thick in some areas. Hand digging was required and the trees were planted in “structural soil” trenches. The roots of the trees planted in this shallow rocky soil are designed to grow horizontally along the streets. This project was one of the first in Denver to use this planting method. Quality control on this project had to be perfect without exception. Quality assurance inspectors were watching all operations daily. Excavations, no matter how deep, were required to be compacted every eight inches so there would be no shifting or settlement. It was slow and very laborintensive work. The equipment had to be all done by hand so as not to disturb the tunnel. It was a fascinating project, but after three years at Union Station the time had come to move onto another project that would give her different building experience. She was assigned to Boulder as the Assistant Project Manager on the Kittredge Residence Halls at CU. Now completed, she is working in the main Kiewit office estimating new projects. Jacque’s advice to students who would like to follow this career path is to learn how to set yourself up, no matter what is happening in the economy. Learn as much as you can in many areas. Work hard and make an effort to get out there – make relationships with faculty and alumni while in school. She credits fellow alumnus Brian Levitt for opening doors for her with a
Jim Garvey, Entrepreneur and class of 1985, entered into real estate because of the entrepreneurial draw. This was long before computers and “dot coms” were a reality. He remembers Chuck Shinn saying that real estate and construction were one of the last great avenues for entrepreneurs to follow. It sounded good and appealed to his adventurous spirit. He also remembers hearing Lee Evans say in a class that we should “Compel events to conform to our plans,” so he thought he would give that a try. While at DU, Pat Hamill hired Jim to work with him at Arnold Homes. When he got there, he remembers seeing a computer on one of the desks. This was not a common sight in offices yet. Pat said it had an estimating program on there and if he could figure it out, then he could use it. Jim did figure it out and became the go-to guy in the company on the computer. When Pat started his own company, Garvey went with him and traveled around the country consulting with home builders teaching what he He remembers Chuck knew on estimating. He was only 19 Shinn saying that real or 20 at the time and still in school. He estate and construction loved it! Garvey also stayed involved were one of the last great on the construction side of things. After graduation from DU, Garvey moved to Seattle and then to New Jersey as a site supervisor for Ryland Homes. His pattern was to earn money and then take off time for traveling. He saw all 49 states and then went to Alaska. Jim paddled down the Kenya River, went to Australia and worked for a national builder there in Sydney.
avenues for entrepreneurs to follow.
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Soon he was working for Deloitte and Touch consulting on property management. Garvey moved to Australia and started his own consulting business for everyone from the largest commercial brokers to the Australian government on their government-owned buildings. He then got side-tracked again on another interesting project, and with a partner started HOTJOBS. com which Yahoo eventually bought from them. He went to Dublin and stayed in Ireland consulting for a time and then back to Newcastle, Australia with his new family. There he worked with industrial, commercial, land developers and the mining sector. Garvey now feels that he is at a time in his life where he is going to do what he has always wanted to, and now able to do, which is to open a chain of Brew Pubs in Australia. They will open under the name of Grain Fed Brewery and the Beer Farmer. “And”, Garvey says with a smile, “Every single one of the pubs will need to be located on a great real estate location and also be well managed.” Garvey will still be making use of his real estate and construction management skills!
Pat Hamill, class of 1981, grew up in the construction industry. His father owned a homebuilding business in Michigan, and Pat was able to gain hands-on experience before he attended The University of Denver. When Pat arrived at DU, he found that many students, like him, were from families that were “in the business.” When he started at the Real Estate and Construction Management program, Chuck Shinn was the director. Pat appreciated that all of the professors worked in the industry and the information he learned was very much applied knowledge based on real life experiences. Chuck’s approach to teaching was definitely hands-on and applicable in real-world situations. Pat shares that some of the best advice he received was from Chuck Shinn: “Go to work for a successful company who shares your values.” As Pat created his career, he defined and focused what his own values were: Put people first, be adaptable, have integrity, and provide great value to the consumer.
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Go to work for successful
After graduation, Pat first went to work for companies that share your Bob Arnold, the Arnold Companies, which values. He recognizes that was a family owned business in suburban DU gave him many of the Denver. He had interned there part-time as values that he carries with a student and once he graduated, he was him to this day. hired full-time. At this position, Pat worked as a builder/developer but he also enjoyed the emerging technology becoming available to builders. He was able to develop that interest and help foster the implementation of the TOM (Total Office Management) system within the company. It was a time when computers were just emerging into the business office and the housing sector was embracing technology. A part of Pat’s responsibilities was to help the Arnold Companies team get up to date with the technology. After Hamill left the Arnold Companies he started a consulting business which assisted builders all over the country with their scheduling and purchasing systems. As his company grew, Hamill hired a number of students from the DU Real Estate and Construction Management program. He built the company for more than eight years but realized this was not going to be his future. He left consulting to start his own homebuilding firm and in 1991, Pat founded Oakwood Homes, LLC. Oakwood has grown to be the largest private builder in the Denver metropolitan area and is ranked third in the market place. His company’s commitment is, and always has been, to listen to the customer, focus on their needs and provide an outstanding home. Pat has partnered with the Burns School by creating a hands-on experience called the Practicum course since the mid-1990’s. Students learn to manage the business side of homebuilding including scheduling, managing subs, assuring quality control, marketing and finally selling the home. Pat also gives a portion of the income from the sale of the home back to the school to support a scholarship for students interested in entering the homebuilding industry. Pat has given back to his community since his college days when he would answer phones in the Crisis Center at DU after classes. In his recent career he has co-founded two community development organizations in the greater Denver area: The Foundation for Educational Excellence and the 21st Century High Tech Academy. He has also built and donated two homes to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver. In 2012 Oakwood, and its affiliated trade contractors built and donated the Dream Home for St. Jude’s’ Hospital to raise money for research and the hospital. Oakwood built the second home for St. Jude’s in 2013 and will build the third in 2014. These efforts raise hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to benefit both organizations.
Pat’s amazing success could not be predicted when he entered DU, however he recognizes that DU gave him many of the principles that he carries with him today. He credits much of his success to his ability to get an education from a school that had a vision, a strong mission and value system.
Candis Hewitt, class of 1972, grew up on the East Coast and had strong considerations of attending an Ivy League University after she completed high school. However, she was aware of the program at DU and recalls the school not only having a wonderful reputation at the time, but also doing a great job of reaching out to potential students. Candis made her choice early, deciding when she was still just a junior to attend DU for higher education. Still, she had thoughts of returning to the East Coast after two years and completing her degree at an Ivy League school. However, Candis’ plan was altered. As she recalls, “Everyone was wonderful and the campus was so friendly that I just stayed!” As a student at DU, Candis had lots of favorite professors and most of them were in the RECM department like J.J Johnson. Classes were rigorous and “more leading edge than you could find anywhere else.” One of the greatest value-adds Candis recognized as a student was the wealth of real life experience brought by DU professors into the classroom. Their realistic viewpoints created an additional dimension to the learning environment for students. This was something Candis previously planned on finding at an Ivy League school, but ended up becoming more than satisfied with her experience at DU. However, some unanticipated challenges did arise from a few professors who were used to teaching only males in real estate and construction classes. At the time the industry was nearly 100% male, so
Candis created and implemented
classrooms grooming those national and international real to enter the industry typically estate programs and strategic mirrored this trend. Candis remembers having more than one planning for over two decades. This has included feasibility studies professor feeling a little uneasy with a woman driven to enter the for corporations and individuals, corporate strategic planning, and male-dominated industry. They had the mindset that a woman investments for portfolios – all on should not be pursuing that a global scale. degree or entering that industry. But Candis persevered, and joined a very small group of females to graduate from the program. She remembers that not only were the majority of her professors supportive, but so were all of her classmates. Candis worked a lot while she was a student at DU because she did not have a lot of money. This made the already demanding course load more challenging, but professors were aware of students like Candis that had jobs and spent a lot of time working. Professors helped students in any way that they could, particularly with references for internships and jobs. This lent to an atmosphere of camaraderie that existed within the department. After DU, Candis initially went into investment banking and finance, but now works in commercial real estate brokerage. She recognized many individuals had become very successful after entering that industry. She has created and implemented national and international real estate programs and strategic planning for over two decades. This has included feasibility studies for corporations and individuals, corporate strategic planning, and investments for portfolios – all on a global scale. Candis notes that setting up systems and monetizing real estate and construction needs for companies becomes much more dynamic in multicultural situations. Candis has held numerous management and executive positions since graduating from DU. She feels the RECM program well-prepared her for much of the success she has had in the industry. After DU, she knew where to look to further educate herself as she gained industry experience. Candis believes that keeping alumni involved at DU is very important because “everybody learns from everybody.” She feels DU has a great alumni network and credits the school and active alumni for building and developing this into what it is today. She encourages current students to take advantage of these resources and cultivate them for current and future alumni alike. 45
Candis’ advice to current students is to recognize the broad knowledge base that exists at DU. This knowledge will be utilized in whatever professional path they take, so take advantage of the opportunity to really learn about all fields of business and utilize all the tools provided to them while they are at DU. Candis’ company has hired multiple DU grads and she has noticed that “the best of the best” are the ones that enhanced their understanding of all business concepts, not just ones learned within the real estate and construction management department.
Nathan Johnson, class of 1974, grew up in Massachusetts as a high school ski racer so it was a natural for him to consider Colorado as a destination for college. He was not certain if he wanted to go into real estate or the hospitality/tourism industry. DU offered both programs so he narrowed down his search to DU. He was also entranced by the “Go West Young Man” promise of adventure and open spaces. His parents were supportive and with close relatives in the Denver area…the decision was made. Johnson arrived on campus just at the end of the Lee Evans era and the program was heavily focused on construction management. But Mike Crean had also just arrived as a fresh, young real estate professor and Johnson enjoyed taking the core real estate classes with him. He decided to go into Real Estate. James Johnston (J.J) taught law classes for the program and was also a favorite of Nathan’s. Although the program was in a period of transition, it offered most of the classes that Nathan needed. Those that were not offered, Johnson worked with Crean to develop several Independent Studies to complete his course work. Nathan had caught the “real estate bug” and was anxious to get his career going. He graduated – Magna Cum Laude (2nd in the class of the entire College of Business.) While still at DU he started putting together a real estate company called Sun-Earth Realty (it was the 70’s) that bought, remodeled and resold properties. He focused on residential and small multi-family units around the University Park, Washington Park and Congress Park neighborhoods. Mike Crean served as his broker, until Nathan earned his own brokerage license. Jim Johnston did all the legal paperwork for the partnerships and remained 46
Figure out what area of the business that your personality is suited for and then go for it.
involved serving on the company’s advisory board. Also serving on the board was Dick Jones of Jones Real Estate College (now Kaplan University).
Nathan was moving away from the fix and flip model that started the company and grew more into residential brokerage. The company had an office at Downing and Evans and between 1974 and 1981 it had grown to 25 brokers. Sun-Earth Realty closed in the early 80’s. Although he enjoyed residential brokerage, he yearned for a more challenging, strategic, and sophisticated sale process which commercial real estate offered. He notes that there is a lot of emotion tied into the residential process which affects even the most rational of people. With commercial real estate, it is a business transaction, done during business hours and that suited him. Nathan found a permanent home at the Frederick Ross Company in 1984 and stayed when it was sold to Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in 2012. Johnson found his stride there and over a 20 year span with Frederick Ross, he maintained the highest overall production within the company of brokers while also serving as being a partner in the firm. Johnson’s credits his extraordinary success as a commercial broker to “a strong work ethic and polite persistence.” Commercial brokerage is a high ticket sale and as Johnson explains, “one is providing key strategic advice and getting paid very well for it, while maintaining minimum liability and responsibility as a result.” There is no capital overhead needed. Developers have the highs and lows associated with the cycle and to some extent, so do brokers, but they do not have to put their earnings from the last deal into the next one. “Brokers put the transaction together for others who then take care of instituting it.” While his focus is in commercial brokerage, Johnson still keeps a hand in actively investing in both residential and commercial real estate of all sizes. He is involved in many partnership interests, including the development and sale of the 600,000 square foot headquarters building of Xcel Energy at 1800 Larimer Street. Johnson’s advice for students who want to follow the commercial real estate path is to follow your instincts…figure out what area of the business that your personality is suited for…and then go for it.
Jim Judd, class of 1949 took a while to find his niche and define his personal strengths, but once he did, he built a very successful career using them. Jim graduated from East High in 1943 at the height of WWII. He attended CU Architectural and Engineering School for two quarters then the University of Wyoming for one semester before he was called into the Army Reserves. He served two years with the 10th Mountain Division of the US Army. Out of the military, Judd wanted to go back to school but, was not sure what he wanted to do. He came from a family of engineers and constructors. His father, an expert in concrete, was the head of architectural construction design on the Hoover Dam at the age of twenty-eight. Judd told how his father and team rode on mules up and down the river to pick the best spot to construct the dam. Judd’s grandfather, a German immigrant was trained as a millwright and started his new life in this country going door to door sharpening knives until he had the money for a horse and wagon then headed to Central City to practice his millwright trade in the mines. He started to buy and fix homes in Denver and moved to larger projects (bricklayer on the City Auditorium) and eventually ended up a wealthy man. Jim decided he needed to know more about business so he enrolled at the University of Denver Business College. He attended class downtown above Mapelli’s Meat Market for one year. He then decided that he wanted to do something in the engineering world and returned to the engineering school in Boulder. But with all the returning GI’s wanting an education, resources were stretched at that University and Jim was not satisfied with the quality of the classes. He would hang out at the DU student union in downtown Denver where he heard that DU had a school of Building Industry and Real Estate and he started there. By that time he had met his wife, Eleanor, and was getting married and he wanted to settle down in more ways than one. With all the classes that he had taken before he got to DU, he entered as a senior and graduated in 1949. Jim felt that the strength of the Building and Industry program at that time was in the estimating courses. He learned how to figure materials and labor for a job. It was an excellent program and fit well with his previous design, engineering, accounting and legal education. He felt what he learned at DU was the most important in order to run a business.
Jim’s area of expertise was to easily look at the lot and put together a plan and a cost.
He worked briefly for a homebuilder in Aurora and joined the Carpenter Union as an apprentice under Nustrom Davis, but Jim was at heart an Entrepreneur. An uncle had a 25 x 100 foot lot at 2200 Arapahoe and he wanted a plan to put a building on it. The owner of the lot next to that wanted Jim to add on to the building so Jim designed and built both at the same time. While he was working on that project the business across the street came over and asked him to design and build an addition on their building for warehousing. Jim was in business! Jim’s area of expertise was to easily look at the lot and put together a plan and a cost. His ability to estimate was outstanding. He could also look at older existing buildings and see what he could do to change or modernize it. When John Fuller (Fuller and Company) was trying to lease his first industrial building owned by Western Federal, clients could not envision what the space would look like and it often took architects weeks to come back with a design plan and more time for a builder to bid it. By that time, Fuller had lost the clients to pre-finished spaces. Fuller hired Judd to help design and bid out the cost to finish space – which Jim could do in one day. The building quickly got leased up. He did the same thing for many of the Frederick Ross investments. By 1977, Jim had built a successful business and was doing well, but he continued to work long hours and was ready to take more time away from the business. After working with a couple of unethical clients where he had to take them to court to get paid, he decided that he had enough and retired. He “missed the work, but didn’t need the work.” He and Eleanor have been married 65 years now and are enjoying their time together. “We like each other,” says Jim with a smile, “We are lucky.”
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Brian Levitt, MSRECM 1996, Brian Levitt has
always followed a creative path. He was living in New York working in advertising, music, and writing before he tried his hand at residential and commercial brokerage. It was during his interview for NYU’s real estate program that he found out about the Burns School.
Levitt completed his Master’s in one year. He loved the Burns program because it was so strong in the areas that he needed. He still draws upon the principles that he learned in the courses and found the attitudes expressed by the professors accurate. He took all his class notes and put them into spiral-bound books. Brian still uses them as a reference and says, “Crean’s formulas are still a benefit today.” As Levitt learned more about the early efforts in sustainability, he translated them into a math factor to easily figure the costs and benefits. His ability to transform sustainability into economics has been one of his strengths. After graduation, he worked for Berland Real Estate. Levitt helped consult for Berland, but also found time to work on 16 other projects during those five years. He then became the first project manager for the Stapleton Redevelopment project in 2000 with Forest City, where he managed the development of several million square feet of mixed-use projects. Brian feels that working with a large company “elevates your game” because there are more projects and talent and you have to stay at your top to compete. While with Forest City Development, Brian met Jon Ratner, the son of the CEO of Forest City Enterprises. Jon lived a sustainable lifestyle that inspired Brian to become very interested in creating a sustainable project and proving that it was economically feasible. Brian told Jon that he would figure out the math by creating a LEED cost-benefit analysis if Jon could assure that his Dad and his two brothers —CEOs of the Residential and Commercial divisions–would see it. They both came through on their word and a year later, Brian got the go ahead on Northfield Stapleton, which became the first LEED-Certified mall in the United States.
Sometimes it is good to try to steer clear of the masses and not do what everyone else is doing! This is where the opportunity lies.
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In 2007, Brian was ready to go out on his own. There could not have been a worse time to try to start a business, but Brian says a “tough market improves you as a professional. Deals change…I did more consulting than developing during that time.” He reinvented himself as a consultant and feels that changed him for the better. Fortunately, he made it through the recession as a business owner. In 2011, Brian won a national competition to build the Glendale River Walk project in Glendale, Colorado which was to be a $450MM 24hour entertainment district. He stayed with the project for 16 months, but eventually determined the project as envisioned to be financially unfeasible. Fortunately, in 2013 Brian met his new real estate partner, Trever Hines. They formed NAVA Real Estate Development (www.navareal.com) and currently have two projects underway with anticipated costs in excess of $100MM. NAVA means – “to make beautiful” in Hebrew. Levitt feels that their projects are not being done just to make money, but to add beauty to the skyline and people’s lives. The projects include a shopping center in Frisco and a condo community on 17th Avenue on Sloan’s Lake in Denver. The condos will be unique from both a legal and healthy communities standpoint, and Brian is confident in his approach. Brian currently is Cochair and Co-founder of the Urban Land Institute’s Building Healthy Places Committee where he collaborates with people from the wellness industry to study how we can improve the way we build our communities in order to improve one’s physiological and psychological health To Brian, this is the ultimate connection between people and places and born out of a lifetime in a family of physicians. He is also nationally recognized as the Vice Chair of the ULI’s National Sustainability Council.
Brian has had the pleasure of teaching six quarters in the graduate real estate program as an adjunct and has coached four NAIOP Challenge Teams. When asked for his advice he responded, “Passion goes a long way. Search for your passion. If you can find it, it will carry you a long way. If you can’t pinpoint it, it will be a more difficult road. When you are enthusiastic, you will be noticed.”
department where she underwrote all types of loans, not only related to real estate, but also other industries. She was promoted to portfolio manager and moved to Boulder. After working in Boulder several years, she was offered a position as a lender in the CoBiz Vail office. As an avid road cyclist, she loved the opportunity she had to also follow her biking passion in the mountains.
He also suggests looking for the one-off, maybe the older developer looking for a successor. Work for a small shop so you can do everything, even if it is on smaller projects. And finally, participate. Raise your hand in committee meetings if something needs to be done. Eventually that will pay off – the others will let you run with your idea. He urges students to look for opportunities to go right, especially when everyone is going left. Sometimes it is good to try to steer clear of the masses and not do what everyone else is doing! This is where the opportunity lies.
Her marriage brought her back to Denver where she is currently working at Centennial Bank as an Assistant Vice President in the Relationship Management Department. Noni says one thing she loves about her job is she, “Gets to be curious every day! I continue to learn things about people, industries, as well as the banking business.”
Noni Petty, class of 2007, was working as a comptroller at a construction company in Denver when she decided to go back to school for more formal education in the construction industry. Her ultimate goal at that time was to own a construction company where she could hire women without a solid education and teach them a skill.
I get to be curious every day! I continue to learn things about people, industries, as well as the banking business.
Noni credits her education at Burns for introducing her to Finance, (specifically Jeff Engelstad’s class on Cash Flow Modeling), and a career that she loves. She also claims that one could not understand real estate lending without understanding appraisals and she is thankful to have learned that also at DU. Noni feels that she grew so much as a person while in the program. “I used to agonize over networking events,” she said, “But through Burns, I learned how to network and I found it was like meeting new friends.” Noni loves banking because she gets to help many small construction start-ups with great ideas. Has she given up the original dream of owning a construction company one day? “Anything is possible” she says, “We never know where our lives will take us!”
When she started at the University of Denver’s Burns School, however, her natural love of math led her to the real estate finance classes. She found that she not only enjoyed the finance side of the industry, but she excelled in the courses. Noni graduated right before the recent recession and could not find a job in development, so after graduation she gravitated toward banking “temporarily” and discovered that it was a great fit. She started out at CoBiz bank working under Cyd Petre in the Real Estate Department. Noni’s first assignment was as an Assistant Relationship Manager, Colorado Business Bank (CoBiz) where she helped manage and underwrite the real estate development portfolio. She felt comfortable doing this and felt that her construction experience and education helped her understand both the finance and construction sides of the business. Later she joined the credit
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Tony Ryerson, class of 1981. If there is a “normal path” that students took to enroll in the Burns School, Tony Ryerson did not take it. Tony, class of 1981, did not come from a real estate or construction background like many of his classmates. When finishing high school, Tony asked his advisor for suggestions if he decided he was not ready to begin college immediately. His other options were to join the Marine Corps or “get a really crummy job somewhere.” Always up for a challenge and some character-building, Tony began working for an industrial contractor in Baytown, TX. He worked as a laborer, oiler, and mechanic’s helper. Tony was steered by a friend in Texas to apply to school in Colorado, but his first target was not the University of Denver. He originally looked at Colorado State, but ultimately applied to and was accepted at DU. Not only did Tony accept the offer to attend DU sight-unseen, but he actually did not arrive in Colorado until the night before classes began, leaving his roommate-to-be thinking he might have the place to himself for the quarter. With his minimal experience in construction, Tony chose the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management for the focus of his studies. He found the curriculum to be challenging as he lacked any financial training and did not have a background in residential construction. He was also one of the few students in the program that did not have an immediate family connection to the industry. Many of his classmates were second or even third-generation builders but one reason Tony stuck with the program was because of some really great classmates. He loved the cohesiveness of the department, describing it as having a “familial tone.” Some of Tony’s fondest memories as a student were attending homebuilding conventions in Las Vegas with other members of the DU’s student chapter of the National Association of Home Builders. He participated in three such events with other very dedicated students from the RECM department attending. The group would bring a booth that was constructed on the convention floor where they would hand out flyers, answer questions, and even present a slideshow for convention attendees. It was a fantastic representation for DU’s Construction Management Program as well as great for reaching out to builders who had a son or daughter attracted to the industry. It displayed to the thousands of show attendees that education in construction management was not just hammer and nails, but had a discernible business side being taught in select higher education institutions like DU. 50
The Vegas nightlife experience was limited as no one in the group had much money and the faculty member who took them to Vegas, Chuck Shinn kept them very busy manning the booth and attending seminars while they were there. Still, Tony recalls the trip as lots of fun, despite having to stay at The Algiers, which he recalls as, “Hey, the price was right.”
It showed people that education in construction management was not just hammer and nails, but had a discernible business side being taught in select higher education institutions like DU.
Tony was a student worker in the RECM department and enjoyed working with Chuck while he was there. He may not have had the construction background other students had, but he was a strong writer and put those skills to good use in the office. Chuck Shinn was his favorite faculty member, but Tony remembers having some really great professors in history and English as well. He very much enjoyed the business school, especially the schedule that was conducive to taking long weekends for skiing in the mountains. When Tony was a student, the economy and job market were not exactly booming. Lots of students would have taken any job out of college. After finishing at DU, Tony was lucky to gain a position as a ranch hand in Edwards for Bud Palmer who had just completed a new house there. Palmer was a former professional basketball player and was a pioneer in national sports broadcasting before moving to Colorado in 1972. Palmer then became involved in the development of Vail ski resort and the creation of the Colorado Rockies hockey team. Tony recalls the property as more of a “poodle ranch” as it did not have any cattle or horses on it at the time. However, he was happy to be paid a very minimum wage along with meals and room and board. Later, he worked as a carpenter for a construction company also in the Edwards area. This hands-on experience is where he really learned more about construction. This homebuilding experience was the basis for the next few decades for Tony. He linked in with a number of ski instructors from Vail working construction in the off-season. A group of them formed a small construction company that they operated for the next 15 years. Following that venture, Tony worked as assistant property manager in Edwards for 10 years. He currently manages a large estate in the Edwards area. One of his primary functions is managing a forest health program for the property. This is part of a stateapproved program that has very specific plans each year. Tony has remained a skier and enjoys getting to the mountains as much as possible. Both of his kids are successful alpine and Nordic skiers, each competing while they were in college.
of years olulu, le p u o c a Sa moa for . I now live in Hon ’s n a c i r e m Hawaii ved in A Friends, structure Professors/ you may recall, I li newable energy infra at the University of art grid) sm re of k As some American Sa moa’s joy my energy wor n grid integration ( researc h on o en g t constructin a m able to further I continue working s as well as conduc therefore, I e. nd id d Hawaii an ural Energy Institut on island power gr as not gone away a GE Power h at n om Hawaii N le energy penetratio r American Sa moa me and a tea m fr wable energy fo e d ab and renew tec hnology. My love ity of Hawaii to sen e penetration of ren th rs smart grid convince the Unive e Utility increasing . o st th was able t oa to discuss with system over the pa of interest s e t i s out to Sa m all island energy grid m e h m to show t life while there. d n a l on their s s i e around th a picture of my e would on ly m a e t y re I took m ld help them paint r (a bar and grill on ersity of e h t e il h W that cou Tisa’s barefoot ba there was a Univ the s n o i t a c lo and d to be ) To my surprise e n e resented to p p p a h I h p s o c e i i t s h v One in the mo om the rafters, w d e t s i x e e high fr e years ago. imagin g in y fl l il hre g st Denver fla ar owners almost t b the faculty o t n o i t a i er staurant my apprec eling and making a e University f o n e k o t hoto as a my career of trav d connection to th mni of our p s i h t t p Acce e made w my pride an ud to be an Alu k you to all! v a h h c i h and staff w reality. I love to sho me....and most pro M anagement! Than r on a difference d all it has done fo tate and Constructi s an of Denver ns Sc hool of Real E r beloved Bu Best, n Rawson a i t s i r h C Ja mes 007 Class of 2 51
Our Donors Like the precious
metals and gems...
found beneath our land, our Burns School donors are valued for the additional learning opportunities they contribute to our students through their financial generosity. Supporting additional activities, student travel to attend association meetings, participating in student competitions, learning from visiting industry professionals, enjoying networking opportunities or participating in travel programs; these all enrich the educational experience.
Platinum Over $1,000,000
Gold $500,000 to $999,999
Joy S. Burns Budd and Terry Spratlen
Donor Anonymous Patrick H. Hamill
Diamond $100,000 to $499,999 Denver Metropolitan Commercial Association of Realtors Engle Homes Colorado Lee and Virginia H. Evans Galileo America LLC Operating
Nello Gonfiantini Doyle Del Heaton James T. Lampman and Ann Bishop Lampman Legend Retail Evan N. Makovsky
Oakwood Homes, LLC Sandelman Foundation Jeffrey S. Sandelman Timberline Software Corporation
George R. Johnnides Peter A. Kudla Mardel LLC
Glenn R. Mueller Family Julian H. B. Scurci
Silver $50,000 to $99,999 Lawrence A. Atler Donor Anonymous John S. Scurci Foundation 52
Ruby $10,000 to $49,999 Anschutz Foundation Edwin L. Bell BetaWest Properties Inc. David V. Bolger John Louis Bucksbaum Cahners Publishing Company Chateau Development LLC Colorado Chapter of the Appraisal Institute Commercial Net Lease Realty, Inc. Jim D. Cox Donald J. Curtis Denver Board of Realtors Denver Metro Association of Realtors Denver Metro Realtors Foundation Denver West Office Leasing Company LLC Donor Anonymous Etkin Johnson Company LLC Executive Real Estate Roundtable Inc.
Fidelity National Title Ins. Co. of N. Y. FirstBank Holding Company of Colorado FMI Corporation John Evans Freyer Gladstone Builders & Developers, Inc. Hall & Evans, L. L. C. Foundation Katherine J. Hamill James E. & Constance L. Bell Foundation James S. Kemper Foundation John & Jacolyn Bucksbaum Charitable Fund John W. O’Dorisio Foundation David L. Johnson Nathan R. Johnson E. James Judd Koelbel Family Foundation Gene N. Koelbel Land Title Guarantee Company Lawrence A. Atler Trust
Leonard P. Reaume Memorial Foundation Lowry Redevelopment Authority John W. Madden Susan Ryan Madden Ray J. Meissner Metro Denver Realtor Foundation Miller, Hamilton, Snider & Odom, LLC National Association of Industrial and Office Properties National Association of Realtors Jesse Fredrick O’Dorisio Opus Group Hugh L. Rice Rose Medical Center Tundra Data Corporation U.S. Home Corporation United Community Banks Robert Warner
Del Webb Corporation DSP Builders Stephen McCloskey Farnsworth Frederick Ross Company Stephen J. Goldman Guaranty Bank & Trust Company Harrison Resource Corp. Herbert & Maxine Block Foundation Home Builders Foundation James Real Estate Services, Inc. John and Jacolyn Bucksbaum Family Foundation KeyBank National Association
M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. Martin-Harris Construction NHE/NAHB Scholarship Foundation Sending Support Charitable Foundation Sepic Family Foundation Shinn Associates, Inc. Simpson Housing, LLLP Carol E. Sullivan The Erie County Investment Company Eljana M. Walker Louis J. Weisman Whirlpool Foundation
Emerald $5,000 to $9,999 Alpine Wholesale Amstar Group, Ltd. Ed G. Anderson Aon Foundation Berenbaum, Weinshienk & Eason P.C. Shawn M. Bolger Harvey B. Camins Careb Foundation Phyllis M. Coors Kevin M. Crean David Johnson Group Inc.
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Sapphire $1,000 to $4,999 Abstract & Title Co. of Mesa County Alvarado Development, LLC American Society of Real Estate Counselors American Society of Professional Estimators American Southwest Mortgage Corp. Amy & Stephen Farnswroth Family Fund DAF Greater New Orleans Douglas A. Andrews Donor Anonymous Arizona Business Bank/Colorado Business Bank Arvada Hardwood Floor Jennifer V. Atler Kathleen Kolbe Azeez Banc One Arizona Corporation George N. Bishop Jennifer Anne Bjork BMC West Corporation Susan L. Boothby Devon A. Bowes David C. Boyles Frances J. Bozeman Gregg A. Bradbury Brandywine Operating Partnership LP Perry A. Cadman California Bank & Trust CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc CBRE Inc Chicago Title of Colorado, Inc. Peter Moreton Coors Colorado Business Bank Connexion Property Services Donald P. Cook Corporex Realty & Investment, LLC Countrywide Home Loans Bruce C. Cousins CP Limited Partnership 54
CRL Associates Inc. Denver Broncos Football Club Denver Metro Building Owners and Managers Association Diane and Charles Gallagher Fund at The Denver Foundation DTC Management, LLC Richard L. Eason Kermit A. Ecklebarger Taryn L. Edwards Cathy B. Ellis Esprit Homes, LTD. Essex Financial Group, Inc. Bruce Etkin Faegre Baker Daniels LLP FHC Hotel Management Company First Nebraska Title & Escrow Company Frampton Family Charitable Foundation David C. Freyer Fuller And Company Charles P. Gallagher Kevin C. Gallagher Roderick F. Gilbert Joel Glover Solvin W. Gordon Jonathan D. Griffis Robert J. Guerra Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Denver John M. Hosking Hunt Family Foundation Illinois Association of Realtors Ironwood Advisors, Inc. William A. Jensen Jean B. Johnston Peter K. Johnston
Sharon K. Jones JPI Lifestyle Apartment Communities,L.P. K & C Management, LLC Jay A. Kaiser Kellogg Lumber Company KeyCorp Kiewit Building Group Inc Kleinman Guerra & Co PC Craig Kleinman Marie Katherine Kline Chad Christopher Knoth Krest Distributing Inc Helen E. Krieble L.C. Fulenwider, Inc. Law Firm of Stephen A. Maguire,LLC Lennar Family of Builders L.P. Mark L. Levine Keven John Lindemann John D. Liprando Ludwig H. Schmitt Trust Kathryn L. Macy Madden Family Foundation Mark Levine Fund at The Denver Foundation Masco Corporation Pollyann Mason Michael D. McCall Richard G. McClintock McGraw-Hill Companies Metropolitan Homes, Inc. Mile High Development LLC Mile High Property Services Inc Milender White Construction, CO. Miller Global Properties, LLC Sherman Miller Mission Viejo Company Moen
Sapphire continued $1,000 to $4,999 Monier Lifetile LLC Kirk Monroe Gregory Allan Moran Neil J. Mulholland Diana L. Nadler Nelson Pipeline Constructors Norwest Mortgage Oakwood Charities, LLC Anita D. O’Connell Opus Foundation Elissa Gordon Oshinsky Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti, P. C. Eric D. Patterson William B. Pauls PDC, LLC Mindy Levy Peckar Perkins Coie Denver Working Fund Essie Lou Perlmutter Phillip J. and Pamela E. Ruschmeyer Jr. Family Foundation Prime West Real Estate Services, Inc. Puget Homes Corporation Percy R. Pyne R & A Travel Inc Randolph & Patricia Scott Foundation Reiman Foundation, Inc. Richard & Edward Robinson Family Foundation Richard Cox Trust Blair E. Richardson Richmond Homes Ritter Foundation, Inc. Ross Investment Ventures Rubin & Raine, Inc. Phillip J. Ruschmeyer S. A. Miro, Inc. Sage Foundation at The Denver Foundation
Santa Barbara Foundation Saunders Construction, Inc. Carmela Savoie Schlage Lock Company Mark A. Schlosser Scott Company Inc Shames-Makovsky Realty Company Shaw Construction Omer F. Shepard Silver & DeBoskey Harold R. Smethills SNL Center for Financial Education LLC State Farm Companies Foundation Sterling Ranch, LLC Studley, Inc. J M. Sullivan L.C. Taylor Ball Duncan C. Tenney The Azeez Foundation The Ben Bozeman & Frances J. Bozeman Trust The Genesis Group The Gordon Foundation, Inc. The Pyne Companies of Colorado, LLC. The Weisman Family Foundation William J. Thomas Peter Tobin Trus Joist MacMillan Turner Construction Company Sandra Scott Tyler UBS Matching Gift Program University Of Denver US Bank US West Long Distance, Inc. USBank V. E. Boothby Investment Account Village Homes of Colorado
Wagner Equipment Company Bruce Wagner Joseph E. Wagner Wal-Mart Stores Robert J. Watt Andrew Mark Weinberg Samuel G. Weinberg Frances R. Weisman Ward H. Weisman Douglas Norman Wells Wendy Wendeborn Diane T. Wendt Carl M. Williams Gregg F. Witt Wolf Family Foundation George S. Writer Zachary Neumeyer Fund at The Denver Foundation Zions Management Services
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Topaz $100 to $999 1700 Grant Associates, Ltd. 4908 Tower, LLC dba Precision Framing Systems A.B. Hirschfeld Press Inc. Marian T. Adcock Adolphson & Peterson Inc. Glenn R. Ahlborg Robert E. Albert Debra Strear Aleinikoff Carlton Allderdice Alliance Commerical Partners, LLC Harvey Alpert Alquest Property Corp American Society of Professional Estimators # 5 American National Bank American Property Solutions, Inc. Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Apartment Investment and Management Company Arie and Ida Crown Memorial Aries Compass Group Inc Arizona Regional MLS Douglas A. Arnell David E. Bailey Baker Publications Raymond T. Baker Melissa Baldridge Steve Bangert Barrett Associates Bechta Group, LTD Larry Beebe Dale T. Beede Brigette Anne Bell Arthur R. L. Belz John M. Bena Craig Richard Benes Bill Berkey Timothy H. Berry William P. Bishop
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Eugenia M. Blume BMS Counsultants - Groforth, LLC Clint Bowen Bowes And Company Ryan P. Boykin Richard W. Boyle Bradley Realty Investment Co Bramalea Colorado Inc Bray & Company Realtors Brookfield Residential Roderick R. Brown Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP Broyles Allebaugh and Davis In Robert C. Bryant Butch & Sundance Inv. Inc. Butler & Company C.L.F.S., LTD Cairn Management Company Calcon Constructors, Inc. Robert Earl Caldwell Clay A. Campbell David Michael Cantera Lawrence E. Canterbury Derrell P. Capes John B. Carr Carter Real Estate Advisors, Inc. Robert J. Caseria Centex Homes Corporation Cherry Creek Place III Cherry Hills Dental Assoc P C C L. Christensen Chrysler First Sandra J. Clark Thomas L. Clark CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP Peter C. Coakley CoBiz Inc.
Robert L. Cohen Randall E. Cole Stephen William Cole Colorado Capital Bank Colorado Commercial Holdings, LLC Colorado Real Estate Journal Columbia Savings & Loan Association Commercial Construction Mgmt Serv Inc Commercial Federal Savings & Loan Commons 19, LLC Complete Heating & Air Conditioning Consolidated Collection Company Construction Asset Management Cooper Management Inc. Coopers and Lybrand Andrew J. Copelotti Blythe E. Cox Crimson Financial LLC Lester Crown Michael P. Cummings Barry Curtiss-Lusher Cyprus-Amax Minerals Company Katie Czarnek William Holbrock Davin James A. Deal Todd Decker Delcore G C Stephen Michael Denes Denver Chapter National Association Denver Public School Employees Pension & Benefit Association Denver Rocky Mountain News Depaul Real Estate Investment Group, Inc. Desks Incorporated Deutsch Spillane & Reutzel P.C. Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation Development/Design Consortium
Topaz continued $100 to $999 John P. Dikeou Richard E. Dodge John B. Dollison Gary J. Dragul Dresco Inc Drever Partners Inc Edwin D. Drummond Amy Durfee West Janene B. Duthie East Side Auto & Investment Company Edwin and Cynthia DAF at Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund Empire Construction Services, Inc. Engle Homes/ James Company Equity Mortgage Investors Britta Mae Evans Christopher Lawrence Evans Diane S. Evans Steven W. Farber Federal Asset Disposition Association Amy Fehr FIABCI - USA Scholarship Foundation FIMSA Inc Fine Arts Industries Inc Fire Inc. First Affirmative Financial Network, LLC Gregory A. Fitzgerald Vicki L. Fitzgerald Fitzsimons Apartments, LLC Richard A. Flanagan Jeanette R. Flory Iris Foster Nancy Jean Froseth-Stanisz Brian Fulbright-Hamilton Fuller Family Fund at The Denver Foundation Fults Management Company
Amy P. Gadol Carl A. Gardner James C. Ghielmetti Vivian L. Gilbert John B. Gillespie Shannon M. Gillespie Stuart A. Gottesfeld David W. Graebel Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company Nancy C. Greenlee Joel C. Griffin John J. Griffin Wilma R. Grimstad Paul J. Guidera D. R. Hall Mark J. Hall Halliburton Company Nancy J. Haney Lyle D. Hansen Katherine B. Harris Haselden Construction Inc. Hensel Phelps Construction Co Jeffrey F. Hermanson Randall C. Hertel Highmark International A. Barry Hirschfeld Dalena A. Hogan L.P. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler Holme, Roberts & Owen, LLP Kye D. Holtan-Brown Home Builders Institute Homebuilders Flooring, LLC Augustus F. Hothorn Matthew R. Huebner Josephine Ann Huelskamp Andrew Hyde Irwin Grossman Investments
J.V. Saeman & Co. Merrill R. Jacobson William M. James Jefferson Economic Council Joe Bilicki Realty John M. Hanson & Company, P.C. Johnson & Company Gerald Bradley Johnson James Edward Johnson Jeff Johnson Lance F. Johnson Dale S. Jones Jordon Perlmutter & Company Joseph L Hastings Company JP Morgan/Chase KAM Management LLC Barbara B. Kelley James Kennel John Christopher Kerckhoff Joan L. Kermath Kew Realty Corporation Kiker and Company, LLC Polly Elizabeth Kiker Philip M. Kirk Kirkham, Michael & Associates, Inc.,P.C. Jason Kleinhelter David B. Koff Ladd Foundation David P. Lamb Landis Aerial Photo Leslie Alison Larsen-Rogers LaSalle Bank NA Laventhol & Horwath Lee Wedgwood & Associates Leprino Foods Jason Alan Letman Stephen Roger Letman
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Topaz continued $100 to $999 William C. Liebler Keith Lee Lierz Lincoln Broadway Properties, LLC Lockton Companies Travis H. Loidolt Robert K. Lomas Loretta & Leigh Norgren Foundation Alan B. Lottner Clifton David Louis Robert E. Loup John W. Low Lowe Enterprises John J. Lowrey Shawn Lustigman MacTaggart & Mosier Inc Pamela Mason Madsen Magna Associates Liquidating Trust Majestic Appraisal Inc Thomas J. Malmgren Jill W. Manley Margaretten and Company Inc Scott E. Marine Gerald D. Martin Mattamy Homes Max P Arnold & Associates Inc Matthew D. McClay Stephen G. McConahey MCI Telecommunications Corp Kevin Michael McInerney Mellon Real Estate Invstmnt Mgmt Corp Peter J. Melmed Scott L. Menefee Meridian Homes, LLC Merrill Lynch & Co. Foundation, Inc. Metrolist Inc. Michael James & Company 58
Britta M. Miles Milgard Manufacturing Inc Miller Coors Miller Frishman Group, LLC Miller International Inc. Andrew S. Miller Clinton A. Miller Miller-Klutznick-Davis-Gray Co Millice Group LTD. Sabia A. Milligan Gwendolyn V. Mitchell Timothy J. Monk Thomas N. Morrill David W. Morrison Mortenson Company Mortgage Analysis Computer Corp Mortgage Investment Company Robert L. Mount Moye White LLP John E. Moye James M. Mulligan Stephanie H. Mulliken Melissa Murphy Eddie K. Neel Neenan Company Judith S. Newman Howard B. Noble Nolte and Associates Florence D. Northway Robert D. Nostrand Nuszer Kopatz, Inc. Mark A. Nuszer O.P. Inc. Paul Thomas Ogier Thomas R. Olmsted One Union Square II, Ltd. Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti Charitable Foundation
Pahl-Pahl-Pahl Panattoni Construction Pannell Kerr Forster Paragon Group Inc Bill Parker Paul Ash Management Company, LLC Kimberly Paulson Peak Financial Eloyce Pepper Benjamin Rene Perez Janet Ellen Perlstein Barry Michael Permut Robert D. Perrin Marc Thomas Perusse James W. Pietsch Pinkard Construction Company Michael Brent Powers PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP Public Employees’ Retirement Assoc Public Service Company of Colorado Daniel B. Pumphrey John F. Quinn John David Radcliffe RAFCo Realty LLC Leslie L. Ramsay Randall C. Hertel & Gwenn A. Hertel Charitable Trust Dale Ranstrom RBD Inc Real Estate Appraisal/Investment Patrick Steven Reed Renard Family Foundation Retail Construction Magazine LLC. Robinson Brick Edward A. Robinson Georgiena C. Robinson Richard L. Robinson
Topaz continued $100 to $999 Rocky Mountain Janitorial Specialists Ann Roemer Jeffrey Welsch Rogers Theodore M. Roosendahl Rose Community Foundation RREEF Denver Management Office Vincent Ernest Rusciano Joyce K. Sachter Carolyn A. Saeman Sage Hospitality Resources, LLC Steve D. Sander Scott T. Saucke Schaefer Land & Investment Company Gregory Mark Scheer Mark C. Schickner Warren Brady Scott Scott-Rice Company Security Title Guaranty Company Senn Visciano Canges P.C. Robert Shaiman Shannon Appraisals Inc Brian Robert Shaw Shea Homes-Colorado Division Douglas Penn Shelley Penny D. Shoemaker Signature Properties Inc James E. Smith James T. Smith William S. Smith South Creek Builders, LLC Elinor A. Spiller Sportswomen of Colorado, Inc. Kathryn G. Spritzer Richard K. Spurway Katharine H. Stapleton Gerald L. Starkweather A. Marvin Strait Strear Family Foundation Inc.
Leonard N. Strear Stuart Scott, LTD Steven S. Suggs The American Institute of Architects of Denver The Christian P. Anschutz Foundation The Denver Foundation The Denver Post The Jones Realty Group, Inc. The Krovitz Law Firm, P.C. The Rudolph Rogers Company The Sandstad Group Jon R. Thompson David Thorpe Thunderbird Companies of Colorado Inc Ticor Title Insurance Company Tishman West Management Corp TOLD Corporation William V. Topel Bethany D. Totin Tower One Construction Transwestern Commercial Services Travelers Insurance Company Tribune Properties Inc. Trust Bank of Colorado Turner and Turner, Inc. P.C. Sam Tyler U S West NewVector Group Inc United Drywall & Painting Inc United Western Bank Universal Forest Products Upland Industries Corp US WEST Foundation Marilee A. Utter V3 Companies of Colorado LTD. Vail Resorts Value Consultants Inc Van Court and Company John Richard VanderLaan
Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program Patricia Black Vardaman Sandra Vinnik Vintage Marketing Group Inc. Vision Land Development LLC VISIT DENVER, The Convention & Visitors Bureau Wafer Investment Company Walberg, Dagner & Tucker, P.C. Wendelyn K. Walberg Waner Construction Company, Inc. Timothy A. Waner Bernard Lee Watson Stephen A. Weinstein A H. Weiss Rod G. Welham Wells Fargo and Company Wells Fargo Bank Wells Fargo Bank West, N. A. Christine A. Wester Westfield Development Co. Inc. Curtis Delaine Westphal Westwood Management Whirlpool Corporation John A. Whitney Bruce F. Wiepert Andrew D. Wildenberg Wilson, Cantwell & Spelman, Inc. Philip D. Winn Robert H. Winter Dee Pete Wisor Women’s Foundation of Colorado, Inc. Woolford Company Wyatt Company Wynne Realty, Ltd. Brett Thomas Yates Zing Development Strategies LLC
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Pearl Up to $100 James C. Aamot Andrea Nicole Ackerman Amy B. Adams Mary Redman Albert Amcor Investments Corporation Robert J. Anema Verner W. Averch Baird & Warner Inc Lance W. Bakemeyer Floyd R. Baker Jacob A. Bakker Bank Western Federal Savings Gail N. Barry Richard S. Bartlett Baughar-Roerig & Associates BCE Development Properties Inc Beaumont Properties Inc KC Becker Larry D. Bell Richard C. Bialkowski Joan P. Birkland Birtcher Properties Commercial Ann Clinger Bley Boettcher And Company C Richard Bourret Connie P. Bozeman Michael J. Bradley Bill Branwell Janis Ann Brauerman David L. Brena Brown Development Company, Inc Jeremy A. Brown Ken Burd Allen Burger Megan Ashley Byrne Wayne A. Camper Susan Spencer Cantwell
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Gordon S. Carvill Aaron Hajime W. Castillo Centric-Jones Company Carl A. Cerveny Kevin S. Chadwick Roy W. Chappell Charles J Gargotto Company Jeffrey David Chopin Dawn M. Clayton Ann Coggeshall Larry R. Cohen Coldwell Banker and Co Concepts Financial Services Inc Joyce W. Coulter Countryside Marketing Inc D Kirkham Crossland Timothy Scott Czarnek Jarrod Nicholas Daddis Herta Darley John R. De Grinis Robert E. Dean Den Enterprises Inc Dennis L. Roelker, Inc. Denver Merchandise Mart Panayiotes James Dikeou Kim M. Dillinger Domani Homes Drabo Investments Ltd DuCharme McMillen & Associates Inc East Arapahoe Road Company Stephen A. Edmonds Ehrhardt Keefe Steiner & Hottman P.C. Robert E. Elia Joni Emily Equity Custom Homes Esprit Homes, LTD-Piney Creek Etkin Construction Company
Russell David Evans Fairfield & Woods P.C. Far West Savings & Loan Association Fellows Company Inc Robert W. Fennig First Colorado Bank and Trust First Colorado Management Corp First Financial Equities Corporation First National Bank of Lakewood Charles V. Fishel Scott J. Fisher John L. Fitzgerald Foos & Associates Jacob Daniel Friedland Friednash & Associates G T Land Colorado Inc. Gart Companies Linda A. Garvin Gates Corporation GE Johnson Construction Company Gensler and Associates Jo Ann Giek Grand American Griffis/Blessing, Inc. Grubb & Ellis Gutrich Highlands Corp Joseph Alfred Guttuso Maria Kessler Guttuso James M. Hahn Jacqueline E. Hall Hamilton Group Inc Hampden & Galena Development Company Homer L. Hancock Wendy W. Hanson Stephen Harris Robert Wayne Hatch Robert L. Haworth
Pearl continued Up to $100 Connie S. Hayes Jo Ann Hayes J Paul Heffron Heller Financial, Inc Heritage Electric Service Inc Hillman Properties West Inc Linda Kay Hooks Timothy Dean Hower Phyllis V. Hutchins Howard C. Hutson InterMountain Consultants Inverness Development Corp J & B Building Company Jacobucci Water Brokers Inc Jefferson Cnty Public Schools John Bohling & Associates Johnson & Associates Inc Rita Carol Johnson Frank Johnston Paul R. Johnstone Terry K. Jones Willie Mae Jones Joseph J Blake and Associates Daniel B. Judd Justin H Haynes & Company JW Marriott Cherry Creek Duane Kamins Stuart W. Kauvar Thomas Walter Kelly Kephart Architects Inc Susan A. King KLP Consulting Engineers Inc Dorothy Price Knudson Edward T. Knutson Kravco Company Mary Kuhlman Andres Cervantes La Saga
Carolyn F. Lancaster Mark William Landes Richard B. Latham William D. Lawrence Matthew Joseph Levesque George R. Levin Brian J. Levitt Mike Licht Lincoln Property Company Colorado Inc Tammy K. Lindsay Lockheed Martin Corporation Roy Lopez Linda L. Love Max M. Lowish James M. Mac Donnell Brett Allistar MacDougall David Joseph Mack Lawrence F. Mack W Allan Macrossie Denni L. Mador Jack L. Mador Rita Mailander Robert J. Martinek Jean K. Matsuda Brian S. McDonald Heather A. McHugh W. R. McKinney Mary S. Metros Stuart R. Michener John H. Miller Mission Viejo Business Properties Inc Geoffrey Paul Mitchell Murata Outland Associates Inc. Thomas E. Murrell Mutual Life Ins Co Of Ny Gene W. Myers Kathleen A. Myers
Mylark Property Management Eugene A. Naes Carel Leigh Kyoko Nagata Nash-Johnson Associates Inc Kevin Robert Naughton Zelda J. Neher Mary Jane Newens Newheight Group Inc. Elizabeth A. Newton John W. Nisley Alys F. Novak Ohlson Lavoie Corporation Olson Marketing Group Inc Virginia L. Olson Debra Ortlip Lenore F. Ownbey Peter A. Pagano Parish Corporation Valerie A. Parrish Sharon L. Parson Paul R. Johnstone Trust PCL Construction Services, Inc. Eric Eberle Pederson Devra H. Perch Pioneer Investment Company Planning Solutions Dennis Polhill Michael D. Pond Porter McLeod Inc Preco Professional Bank Rose M. Protextor Rampart Ventures Inc John Reece Regional Transportation District N. Jane Repka Earl G. Rex
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Pearl continued Up to $100 Thomas G. Rife Henry A. Ring RNL Facilities Corporation Frederick P. Robinson Brittanie Ann Rockhill Rocky Mountain Prestress Inc Dennis L. Roelker Bonnie D. Roerig Ronald E Hambrick Inc Brian Ross E. Michael Rosser Jorge R. Russe Royal L. Safran Andrew J. Saunders Robert C. Schaevitz Schierholz & Associates Inc Nicholas M. Schmidt Jon Schmieder Schwartz & Company Stephen Michael Sewalk David E. Shands Shannon & Associates
PC Shuster & Company Norbert E. Simpson Douglas C. Snyder Sonnenblick Goldman Corp of Colorado Spectrum Real Estate Services Inc Steve Stansfield Mary K. Stewart Storage Technology Corp Craig R. Strazza Daniel Bruce Strong M. Elizabeth Sullivan Summit Constructors Inc Superior Northwest Development, Ltd. Judith M. Sweet Tandem Enterprises Inc Thomas W. Weathers Trust Jill S. Tietjen Trizec Properties Inc Valerie A. Parrish Trust Renee Verspoor WS&J John N. Walden
Ward Becky & Associates Inc Weitz Company, LLC Douglas M. Weitz Michael Anthony Welch Wells Fargo Realty Advisors Robert E. Wenzel Western Mortgage Loan Corp. Western Skies Management Western Title Corporation Peter W. Whitaker Warren A. White Wickliff & Company William Penn Apartments J. Craig Willis Willman & Associates Daniel Wolf Craig W. Woody Betty A. Wright Charles G. Wyman Bill Wynne Yellow Cab Inc Elizabeth A. Youtz
*We regret any donors that may have inadvertently been ommited from this list. 62
Scholarships It is only through the generosity of our Scholarship Donors that allows many of the Burns School students to stay in school and complete their degrees. If there is one quote that explains the effect that the act of giving elicits, it is this, “Donors Change Lives.” —Thank you ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS for GRADUATE STUDENTS
ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS for UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Atler Van Derbur Endowed Scholarship Fund Burton Boothby Scholarship Denver Metro Commercial Realtors® Endowed Scholarship Edward and Diane Fronapfel Scholarship Mueller Family Real Estate Investment & Scholarship Fund Kenneth M. Good Scholarship Pat Hamill Endowed Scholarship Doyle D. Heaton Endowed Scholarship Legend Retail Graduate Endowed Scholarship Fund Richard C. Saunders Endowed Scholarship Fund The Budd Spratlen Endowed Graduate Scholarship Fund
Patricia Bybee Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund Lee & Virginia Evans Endowed Scholarship Fund Budd Spratlen Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship Fund The George H. Gallup Endowed Scholarship Fund Patrick H. Hamill Endowed Scholarship Fund Legend Retail Undergraduate Endowed Scholarship Fund Will Family Lacrosse Endowed Scholarship for RECM students
ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS for GRADUATE STUDENTS
ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIPS for UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Colorado Chapter of the Appraisal Institute Scholarship Ben Bozeman Scholars Fund Burns Society Scholarship Donald J. Curtis Annual Scholarship Denver Metro Commercial Association of Realtors® Annual Scholarship John W. O'Dorisio Foundation Scholarship Fund The Burns School General Scholarship Fund Women of Enterprise Scholarship
Doyle Heaton Annual Scholarship Mark Lee Levine Fund Scholarship National Association of Home Builders Scholarship Patricia Bybee Memorial Endowed Scholarship Fund Professional Builders Scholarship The Burns School Undergraduate General Scholarship
ADDITIONAL STUDENT SUPPORT FUNDS Jim Cox Endowment – to underwrite the Burns School Annual Honor Student Luncheon Patrick H. Hamill Gift – for support of the Residential Practicum Family Foundation
Jeffrey Sandelman Annual Fund to support student activities Burns School Real Estate Case Competition Fund supported by the Scurci Family Foundation 63
Postscript from the author “Large streams from little fountains flow, Tall oaks from little acorns grow.” —D. Everett, 1797
Everything starts small….And a great academic program has a similar and humble beginning. Researching the University and the Burns School history, put into perspective how tenuous even a good idea can be. It is only through the will and perseverance of special individuals and the generous financial support of those who believe in the vision, that a little seedling of an idea can grow a School, a College or a University into Greatness. Sitting in the DU Archives office with old newspapers, bulletins and photos surrounding me, I felt that I “met” the people involved in the creation of the School of Commerce – their stories were amazing. The conflict, the financial woes, the courage of those who would not give up – it was a like reading a great novel. I also had the privilege of getting to know some of our School’s Founders. I visited Lee and Virginia Evans at their beautiful Arapaho Ranch on several occasions before Lee’s death in 2009. I witnessed the organization and management skills of this elderly man as he systematically counted and identified the birds that ate at the largest bird feed I have ever seen. I could see the affection and respect that he and Virginia had for their academic and business accomplishments, for their ranch and for each other. I visited with Chuck and Emma Shinn and my planned one hour visit with them easily turned into almost four when they started talking and sharing stories about the students they enjoyed so much and their fond memories of teaching and leading the program at DU. I worked with Mark Levine
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Acknowledgements I value all the opportunities I had to peek behind the curtain of these amazing people and their accomplishments. They all lent their strengths, in their own way, to the Burns program.
Author: Marie Kline Graphic Design: Ceci Smith Research: Jason Hensel Editors: Lauren Apsokardu and Candace Rusk
and Mike Crean for sixteen years. I marveled at Mark’s business acumen, his leadership and his ability to still put family above all of his other amazing business accomplishments. I heard Mike patiently explain financial concepts to students over and over until they not only said they understood but could demonstrate to him that they did. And, am still amazed at how many alumni I talk to who always ask, “Is Crean still there?” and “I love that guy!” I have had opportunities to visit with Joy Burns on many occasions and enjoyed her gracefulness and graciousness and her sharp wit while enjoying stories about her beloved dogs.
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I value all the opportunities I had to peek behind the curtain of these amazing people and their accomplishments. They all lent their strengths, in their own way, to the Burns program. And with such a strong foundation to build on, I know with firm conviction that for the Burns School, our students, alumni and industry partners, under the leadership of our amazing new director, Barbara Jackson…the best is yet to come. Photos throughout the book credited to: Lee Evans’ biography “From Happy Valley to the Mountaintop” Franklin L. Burns Book “Master Builder of Denver” DU Archives, Flickr, Wikipedia and Getty Images
Thank you for your support that established our roots. We invite you to continue to grow with us. This is not the end, but the beginning of the next 75 years!