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Wharton News Zell/Lurie Members offer their expertise to students during Job CoachingIn response to a difficult job market, about twenty of our members took the time to meet with some of our students for one-on-one career coaching sessions on Tuesday afternoon, April 28, just before the Spring Members' Meeting began. When we last made this opportunity available to our real estate students some years ago, they found the sessions extremely beneficial—and this year was the same. We have heard exceptionally positive feedback from the students, who say they gained valuable insights from members' experience and advice. These extra efforts are part of what makes Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center unique and of such benefit to students. Especially in this challenging economic climate, we thoroughly appreciate our members' willingness to help our undergraduates and graduates set off on a solid professional footing. Thanks to those members who offered their time: Michelle Felman, Chris Mundy, David Rubenstein, Alan Keiser, Robert Ivanhoe, David Marshall, Jacques Gordon, Tom Burton, Brian Cohen, Norm Kranzdorf, Neil Rubler, Andrew Siwulec, Ronak Shah, Hether Smith, John Tourtelotte, Joe Yiu, Allison Wilson-Maher, Marty Nass, and Bill Martin.  Images (above): (left) David Marshall of Amerimar Realty and The Rittenhouse advises an MBA student on career choices; (right) Andrew Siwulec of PNC Bank discusses the career climate with a student. End of semester barbequeStudents, family members, and faculty celebrated the end of another successful academic year at a barbeque at the house of Asuka and Karen Nakahara in Merion.  Images (above): (left) Students get together at the end-of-semester barbeque at Asuka Nakahara's house. L to R: Mat Abramsky, Tuany Vo, Gregg Gilbert, and Sara Nasuti; (right) The next generation of real estate majors enjoys the barbeque. Hoek-Smit receives G. Holmes Perkins Award for Distinguished Teaching Marja Hoek-Smit Drs. Marja Hoek-Smit, Director of the International Housing Finance Program at the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center and Adjunct Professor in the Wharton's Real Estate Department and the University's Department of City and Regional Planning, has received the prestigious G. Holmes Perkins Award, given to a faculty member in the Graduate School of Fine Arts in recognition of distinguished teaching and innovation in the methods of instruction in the classroom, seminar, or studio. The award is named in honor of planner and educator G. Holmes Perkins, who was dean of the GSFA from 1951to 1971. Hoek-Smit was nominated by her students for the award. One nomination said, "Professor Hoek-Smit uses a systems-based approach to teach the complicated, messy subject of international housing finance. The complexity of her lectures could easily render them dull and tedious, but her ability to distill and organize mountains of information into manageable lessons sets her apart from other professors. Her ability to inject personal stories and humor into her lectures, along with the way she facilitates classroom discussion leads to a lively atmosphere and one of the best courses I've taken during my time at Penn." Another student wrote, "She is the most dynamic professor I have had in my time at Penn, and really challenges students to question the assumptions made around international housing markets. . . . The ability to link finance, housing development and emerging markets is done seamlessly in her class." Nakahara receives Excellence in Teaching Award Asuka Nakahara Asuka Nakahara has again been honored for his teaching, recently receiving an Excellence in Teaching Award. Each year, the award is given to eight MBA faculty members who receive the highest average instructor rating on their course evaluation forms over the three prior semesters. The course evaluation forms are filled out by the students at the conclusion of every course. All awards are presented at the Spring Salute and are also recognized during the MBA Graduation Ceremony Gyourko suggests capping mortgage deduction Joseph Gyourko Steven Malanga, in his article, "Obsessive Housing Disorder," in the Spring 2009 issue of City Journal, refers to the research of Prof. Joseph Gyourko, writing, "The federal government should also consider eliminating or capping the home-mortgage tax deduction, which drives up the price of housing in ways particularly damaging to lower- and moderate-income buyers. . . . many moderate-income households don't itemize and thus don't benefit from the tax break, and they're left with fewer housing options as the cost of homes rises around them. In their study Rethinking Federal Housing Policy, Harvard's Glaeser and Joseph Gyourko of the Wharton School of Business suggest capping the deduction at $300,000 of mortgage debt. That way, it would still benefit those moderate-income families that do itemize, while ending the exemption for others." Housing Finance Program will focus on "Changing Global Environment"There are still a few slots open to take part in the International Housing Finance Program's emerging market economies program in June. Under the direction of Marja Hoek-Smit, the two-week program will focus on "Housing Finance in a Changing Global Environment," with sessions on Islamic Finance and Sharya Compliant Securitization. A two-day securitization workshop will follow. For information and to apply, go to http://housingfinance.wharton.upenn.edu or email housingfinance@wharton.upenn.edu. Susan M. Wachter speaks on General Growth, underwater mortgages Susan Wachter Susan Wachter has been in the news frequently in the last few months with widely covered stories on the ongoing mortgage crisis, the worsening global financial situation, and federal government bailout and stimulus efforts. She has been quoted in "General Growth collapse bucks Bucksbaum dynasty," in Forbes, April 16; "True Non-Recourse Mortgage: Getting Buyers Back in the Real Estate Market," in the Huffington Post, April 21; and "Insurance for the underwater house," in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 22. She appeared on news shows on PBS, CNBC, Bloomberg Radio, and Fox Business News, and made presentations to organizations including the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal Spring Symposium; the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C.; the National Association of Realtors Summit; and the Institute for Urban Research.
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