Dean Gatzlaff Professor of Real Estate

As you are aware, Dr. Dean Gatzlaff will retire from Florida State University on March 31, 2022. Over the past few weeks, many executive board members, alumni and industry professionals wanted to find a meaningful way to honor Dean’s retirement and recognize all he has done to build and strengthen the FSU Real Estate Center. His impact on the center, college, his students (well over 10,000!) and the industry is immeasurable and his legacy with respect to real estate education is secure.

After vetting many ideas, we have decided to establish an endowed professorship – the Dean Gatzlaff Professor of Real Estate – to honor Dean’s tenure and legacy. The success of the real estate program, and our college more broadly, is directly linked to our ability to recruit, retain and support the highest quality faculty possible. The creation of the Gatzlaff Professorship will give our college that ability and ensure the continuing preeminence of the real estate program.

The FSU Foundation has created an endowed fund to receive donations to establish the professorship. In the short term, we plan to raise the $250,000 minimum needed to establish the professorship. Our long-term goal is to reach the $500,000 level, which will make the Gatzlaff Professorship one of the best in the college. The annual earnings from the endowment will be used to provide salary and research funding to support a talented real estate scholar.

I hope you will join others and make an investment in the Dean Gatzlaff Professorship to honor Dean’s legacy. Please note that Dean does not know about our efforts. We plan to surprise him with an announcement at the upcoming Real Estate TRENDS Conference in October.