NCREIF Founder to Deliver 2007 MIT/CRE Commencement Address
Posted August 7, 2007
Blake Eagle, founder and CEO of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), will deliver the commencement address to the MIT Center for Real Estate's 2007 Graduating Class on Saturday, September 29th. This address during the Center's Graduation Weekend marks a homecoming for Mr. Eagle, who served as Chairman of the Center from 1993 to 2000.
Blake Eagle played the primary leadership role in the formation of NCREIF, a not-for-profit industry association established in 1982 to collect and validate real estate performance data, and calculate and publish performance measures. NCREIF seeks to bring real estate asset class information and disclosure practices closer to those of the other major asset classes – with an emphasis on pension fund real estate investments – by creating stronger ties between the real estate industry and research communities.
Mr. Eagle was central to the development of the flagship NCREIF Property Index (NPI), the first large-scale measure of its kind, publishing data on the investment performance of the apartment, retail, industrial, and office property sectors. An industry benchmark for real estate performance returns, the NPI lets investors compare returns against industry averages.
During his tenure as Chairman of MIT/CRE, Mr. Eagle increased the Center's industry focus, bringing needed stability to the industry partnership program. The Center substantially diversified its partner base to include all major sectors in the real estate industry, with a significant increase in the number of financial institutions and advisory firms that became partners.
Before joining MIT/CRE, Mr. Eagle was President of Real Estate Consulting for the Frank Russell Company, a global pension fund advisory firm, and was responsible for domestic and international real estate consulting. During his 22-year career with the firm, Russell clients invested more than $16 billion in U.S. commercial real estate equities.
Mr. Eagle has served on the Board of Directors for Cornerstone Properties, Storage Trust, Bentall Corporation, and Pioneer Real Estate Shares. He has served as a Director of the Institute for Real Estate Research, was a member of the Board of Advisors for Fannie Mae, as well as a faculty member at the Mortgage Bankers School at Northwestern University. He is a member of the Real Estate Advisory Committee of New York State Teacher's Retirement Fund and is on the Board of Directors of RREEF REIT America II.
Mr. Eagle has provided testimony to the President's Commission on Housing, the Department of Labor, and the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on U.S. pension fund real estate investment practices. He has received numerous Lifetime Achievement Awards for his contributions to real estate research. He earned his undergraduate degree in business at the University of Washington, and pursued postgraduate studies in real estate at the University of California, Berkeley.
Blake Eagle will be the 23rd speaker to deliver the MIT/CRE Commencement address since the Center opened its doors in 1983. Other recent speakers include Nori Gerardo Lietz, Managing Director and co-founder of Pension Consulting Alliance, and Dr. Hong-Bin Kang, Vice-Mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan Government and onetime President of the Seoul Development Institute. Last year's commencement address was delivered by Matthew Kelly, Vice President of Real Estate Strategy and Development for Walt Disney Imagineering.
Graduation Weekend for the MIT Center for Real Estate kicks off around noon on Friday, September 28th, with a Learn Something New series – presentations on current research and sustainability including a glimpse of the Media Lab's City Car as sustainable personal transportation. The evening will bring a Graduation Reception for the Class of 2007, as well as a Reunion Dinner for the Classes of 1987 and 1997. The graduation ceremony itself will be held at the Bartos Theater on Saturday, September 29th.
