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With record growth in students pursuing real estate, Peter Cushman plans to help them succeed in an uncertain future.

The CU Real Estate Center (CUREC) at the Leeds School of Business has announced the appointment of Peter Cushman as the new chair of the International Advisory Board (IAB).

“As a CU alum and an important player in the national real estate sector, Peter’s vision and leadership will be invaluable to the IAB,” says Michael Kercheval, executive director of CUREC. The IAB’s group of industry supporters provides CUREC with counsel, curriculum advice, mentorships, industry insights and career opportunities for students.

Cushman, who serves on the Leeds Advisory Board, has been a member of the IAB and a passionate supporter of CUREC for 14 years. He’s also served four years as chair of the CU Real Estate Center Annual Forum. Incidentally, he is the son of John Cushman, of Cushman & Wakefield, one of the world's largest commercial real estate services firms. 

“With a potential recession, we will need to educate students on trends and technologies
for careers we don’t even know about yet...and a willingness to be entrepreneurial”

Peter Cushman, Chair of the International Advisory Board at CUREC
 

As Cushman assumes his new role, Kercheval says it will mark a full leadership transition from the original leaders of CUREC to the next generation.

Cushman agrees. “We’re now at another transition for CUREC; we’ve grown so much since we started, and we’re wondering what the next 25 years will hold. I predict we’re going to see an increase in students who want to get into real estate,” he says. “But with a potential recession, we will need to educate them on trends and technologies for careers we don’t even know about yet. And we’ll need to teach them a willingness to be entrepreneurial.”

As a partner at Oakwood Real Estate Partners, a Denver-based real estate private equity firm he co-founded, he is jointly responsible for fundraising and all real estate investment decisions related to the firm's extensive multifamily, office, retail, hospitality, senior housing and land holdings throughout the U.S.

“His experience and knowledge arrive at an important time for the CU Real Estate Center, as our programs and student numbers have greatly expanded, while the real estate industry itself is facing headwinds of uncertainty,” Kercheval said.

In light of that uncertainty, Cushman plans to leverage CUREC’s nationwide network to provide more networking, internships and mentoring opportunities to students. “I would like to find ways for our supporters to take another step toward helping students.”

While the new IAB leader plans for the future, Kercheval acknowledges the leaders who came before. “The center is extremely grateful to our past chairman, Eliot Hoyt, who will remain on the board’s leadership team as an experienced and wise counsel to our programs. And a special thank you to the former past-chair, Cyndi Thomas, who also served as the board’s vice chair and chair.”