CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has announced its sponsorship of a new high profile professorship at the University of Reading, the home of the UK's leading Real Estate and Planning Department.

This new role, entitled the CB Richard Ellis Professor of Real Estate Finance, has been created in light of the increasing importance of the real estate finance market, an area that CBRE is already a well established player through its own development of a range of real estate finance services.

This Professorship will spearhead the development of the University’s new MSc courses in Real Estate Finance and Investment and Real Estate Securities, which will come on stream in the new academic year in September 2008.

CBRE believe the initiative will insure that academia and industry are closely aligned.

Martin Samworth, Managing Director of CBRE (UK) said: “ We continually strive to meet the ever changing needs of our clients, as evidenced by our own move into derivative and hedge fund products over 12 months ago, and we believe this financial segment of the market is set for significant growth in the future. Accordingly, the industry must adapt and ensure that real estate professionals of tomorrow are equipped to meet this need, in that they are well versed in not only real estate but also the financial markets.

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The search is now on to appoint an internationally renowned real estate finance expert to fill this high profile position at the UK renowned seat of learning for the real estate sector. The professorship remit is broad and will entail the marketing of the new financial courses, the recruitment and selection of high quality students, industry mentoring and the provision of career guidance. The professorship will ultimately build a link between Real Estate and Planning and the financial markets, as well as forging a strong professional relationship between the University of Reading and CB Richard Ellis for the benefit of students and staff.

Professor Andrew Baum, Professor of Land Management at the University of Reading, said: “Partnerships between industry and the academic world are essential in a world of increasing complexity and reduced real estate. We plan to use a variety of resources to continue to improve the student experience, and, as we aim to be producers of highly employable graduates as well as global leadership in relevant real estate research, we are delighted to associate our ambitions with those of a world leader in real estate, such as CBRE.”

(NS/SP)