DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
Welcome to the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate at the Villanova School of Business. We are dedicated to producing tomorrow’s leaders in the commercial real estate industry at both the undergraduate and MBA level and fostering a community that shares knowledge and experiences. Our programs are grounded in the Augustinian tradition that underpins Villanova University and VSB to ensure that students learn not only the technical skills to thrive in the fast-changing world of commercial real estate but the ethical framework that will allow them to become the responsible leaders needed in today’s world.
The Villanova real estate family encompasses students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the program with each of these constituents contributing significantly to our mission. Our students are immersed in a cross-functional, innovative curriculum that focuses on translating theory to practice. Our real estate alumni help to make this goal a reality through their participation in the classroom and also on the center’s various advisory councils. Our strategic advisory council includes a diverse group of industry leaders from across the industry and country, who advise the center’s leadership on curriculum, strategy, events and thought leadership initiatives. The Nova Next Council is made up of young professionals with 5-15 years of industry experience who make invaluable contributions through mentoring, career advice, and classroom experience.
The DiLella Center’s premier event is Mulroy Real Estate Challenge at Villanova University, a national real estate case competition held every spring in Center City Philadelphia. The competition brings together teams from some of the top undergraduate real estate programs in the U.S. to provide solutions to a real-time development case with an opportunity to win cash prizes. Teams are judged by industry leaders, allowing students to apply the lessons they learn in the classroom in a “real-world” setting before a panel of experts. To give students even more hands-on learning opportunities, we also launched the DiLella Mulroy Fund in 2018 where students lead the decision-making on commercial real estate investments—the first commercial real estate fund run by undergraduate students!
I thank you for your interest in the DiLella Center for Real Estate. If you are interested in hiring interns or full time employees or if you would like to be added to our mailing list for invitations to upcoming events, please contact us at (610) 519-4334 or email vsb.realestate@villanova.edu.
Shawn D. Howton, PhD
Faculty Director
Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate
