etirement after a long and fulfilling career in itself is a milestone achievement to celebrate. But for alumna Pamela Strout Herbst ’77, it also became an opportunity to pay homage to her alma mater. Herbst retired from AEW Capital Management, a leading global realestate investment management company, in December 2021, after 26 years with the firm. To honor her many contributions, AEW is endowing a scholarship at UMass Boston in her name. “Over the course of her career, Pam had a tremendous impact on the success of our business. Another important part of her legacy was her tireless efforts to shape AEW’s strong charitable culture and the firm’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. She set a high standard for all of us, and for that we will remain forever grateful,” said Jon Martin, AEW’s Chief Executive Officer of North America. “To be able to partner with her alma mater and make a gift in her honor was a great way to acknowledge her leadership and assist others who want to follow in her footsteps.” The AEW Capital Management – Pamela Strout Herbst Legacy Scholarship at the University of Massachusetts Boston will support undergraduate students pursuing a career in economics, investment management, and commercial real estate who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing equity and inclusion in business. In addition to financial support, AEW will provide mentorship
and professional advancement opportunities to scholarship recipients. When trying to find the most powerful way to pay tribute to Herbst, Martin said he immediately turned to UMass Boston. “We want to target students that are like Pam—people who are ambitious, hardworking, and who are putting themselves through school. With an endowed permanent scholarship, our gift will have a lasting impact for UMass Boston students for years to come,” he said. Herbst earned her bachelor’s in economics from the College of Liberal Arts at UMass Boston and her MBA from Boston University. She was managing director of AEW Capital Management and head of the firm’s Direct Investment Group. She was also a leader in the real estate industry as a whole, serving as a board member and eventual chair of the board at the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers and as an active member in the Massachusetts chapter of the commercial real estate development association NAIOP. “To hear that AEW created this scholarship at UMass Boston was incredible because it will provide assistance to students who may not be able to afford a private education but have been working incredibly hard to get through school,” Herbst said. “It just all came together for me. I’m blessed to have had the career I had, and I think it’s incredibly important for people to give back.”
Throughout her career, Herbst has used her expertise as a force for good. She is the former chair of the board and head of the real estate committee for Boston’s Home for Little Wanderers, as well as a current board member for the United Way of Mass Bay and chair of their finance and real estate committees. And she remains a trustee at the Urban Land Institute, a professional association dedicated to decarbonizing real estate, increasing access to housing around the globe, and educating the diverse real estate leaders of the future. “The fact that AEW is establishing a scholarship program with internship opportunities to tap into UMass Boston’s diversely talented population is incredible. This program is an extension of what we’ve been trying to do in this industry for a long time. It really is a great tribute,” said Herbst. For Martin, that tribute is also an investment in the future of the real estate field and AEW itself. By expanding the scholarship into a mentorship and internship program, he hopes to pave the way for students with as much drive and dedication as Herbst. “We’re looking to bring top talent into our firm, and we think that this is a great way to do that. Not only will we be able to help someone with their schooling, but our goal is to also mentor these students and build a pipeline of talented individuals that can hopefully have careers as long and successful as Pam’s.”
