By Joshua Burd
Dozens of aspiring commercial real estate professionals came together earlier this month as the Rutgers Center for Real Estate hosted its fifth annual scholarship celebration, joining a group of seasoned industry leaders and others who are supporting their education.
The Dec. 4 event, which took place at the Rutgers Club in Piscataway, honored 50 students who received awards ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 over the past two semesters. That also meant allowing the recipients to connect in person with donors of the scholarships, which include members of the center’s executive committee, advisory board and leaders’ council, with several receiving awards from Glenn and Mary Rufrano with ICSC and the Kokes family.
“Being able to meet and speak with the scholarship recipients provides me much hope about the future of our industry,” said Kokes Properties President Michael Kokes, whom Rutgers described as one of the program’s most generous donors.
The Center for Real Estate to date has awarded 746 scholarships valued at more than $2.1 million since its inception in 2014.
“Rutgers Business School is committed to rewarding excellent students, and this celebration is proof of that philosophy,” said Lei Lei, the dean of Rutgers Business School. “It was heartwarming to see the appreciation students and alumni have for the donors who work closely with the Center for Real Estate.”
Morris Davis, the Paul V. Profeta chair of real estate and the academic director of the Rutgers Center for Real Estate, added: “In 2024, we had so many excellent students in the program. Teams of these students participated in real estate case competitions and won or placed against large, well-known universities. The center awards numerous scholarships thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors, the advisory board, leaders’ council and our many supporters, and we are so grateful to them.”
Support from the industry has been vital to the center. That began in early 2013 when Paul V. Profeta, the owner and president of Paul V. Profeta and Associates Inc. and the publisher of Real Estate NJ, donated $1.5 million to establish a chair in the field, paving the way for the program to recruit a host of industry leaders to help set the academic course, share their real-world experiences and provide students with networking and job opportunities.
As chair of the scholarship committee, Ed San George, president and owner of the Integra Management Corp., said the process of reviewing hundreds of applications and reading why students want to pursue a career in real estate, coupled with the high grade point averages of the applicants, demonstrates the quality of the future workforce for commercial real estate.
“The program has so many excellent students,” San George said. “We continue to be thrilled to award them scholarships.”
Joshua Burd, an award-winning reporter and editor, has been covering New Jersey commercial real estate for 13 years. Many industry leaders view him as the go-to real estate reporter in the state, a role he is eager to continue as the editor of Real Estate NJ. He is a lifelong New Jersey resident who has spent a decade covering the great Garden State.
Valley Bank has opened the doors to a new 2,800-square-foot branch location in northern Bergen County, having leased the space earlier this year.
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