SPEAKER BIOs. Mr. Blank received his B.A. degree from Syracuse University and was awarded a M.B.A. degree from Adelphi University.

Transcription

1 SPEAKER BIOs Stephen R. Blank joined ULI-the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in December 1998 as Senior Resident Fellow, Finance. His primary responsibilities include: expanding ULI s real estate capital markets information and education programs; authoring real estate capital market commentary for ULI s web site ( participating as a principal researcher and adviser for the Emerging Trends in Real Estate series of publications; researching and authoring papers and articles on finance issues for Urban Land; and organizing and participating in real estate equity and debt capital markets programs at ULI s Fall and Spring meetings, the McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance, District Council meetings, and ULI s European, Asian, and Latin American Conferences, as well as participating in real estate industry meetings, seminars, and conferences. Prior to joining ULI, Mr. Blank served from December 1993 to November 1998 as Managing Director, Real Estate Investment Banking of CIBC World Markets, the successor to Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. His responsibilities included: structuring, underwriting, and executing corporate financings including initial public offerings of common and preferred shares, unsecured debentures, and convertible bonds; property acquisitions, dispositions, and financing; and financial advisory services including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings, and recapitalizations. Mr. Blank is a member of The American Society of Real Estate Counselors (CRE designation), the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and ULI-the Urban Land Institute, and serves as a member of the board of directors and Chair, Audit Committee, of MFA Financial, Inc., a member of the board of directors and the Audit Committee of Home Properties, Inc., and is a member of the board of trustees of Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust where he serves as the Board s Lead Trustee and Chair, Audit Committee. Additionally, Mr. Blank is a member of the Advisory Board of the Real Estate Research Institute, the editorial board of the Journal of Asia-Pacific Real Estate, and the Editorial Board of RERC Industry Outlook, a publication of the Real Estate Research Corporation. Further, Mr. Blank acts as ULI s representative to the Green Building Finance Consortium. Mr. Blank has participated as a Guest Lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Advanced Management Development Program, the Boston College Graduate School of Business Administration, and the Cornell University Program in Real Estate. Mr. Blank received his B.A. degree from Syracuse University and was awarded a M.B.A. degree from Adelphi University.

2 John began his real estate career with New York-based Marine Midland Bank (HSBC) as Assistant Vice President. In March 1989, after two years with the bank, John started Dewberry Capital Corporation, an Atlanta-based holding company focused on the acquisition, development and management of real estate and corporate business assets. To date, the company has owned and developed more than two million square feet of property throughout the Southeast. Additionally, John has 100% ownership of sites slated for some $5 billion in development in Atlanta, Charleston, Jacksonville and Richmond. In 2007, CNBC labeled John "Mr. Touchdown at Georgia Tech and Mr. Uptown in the capitol city of the South," referencing his mission to rebrand Atlanta's northern midtown section as "Uptown". Fortune Magazine (February 2008), profiled John's "hugely successful career in commercial real estate" as part of a cover story of select American entrepreneurs. Julian Diaz III joined the Department of Real Estate at Georgia State University in He is the Richard Bowers and Company Professor of Real Estate and currently serves as department chairman holding the rank of full professor. In 2004 and 2005, Diaz was the Interim Associate Dean for Master s Programs in charge of running the nationally regarded flex-mba program and all specialized master s programs within the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. His research interests are in real estate decision making where he has developed theory and methodology to investigate behavioral questions. He has authored or co-authored approximately thirty five academic articles published in a variety of scholarly outlets as well as two textbooks and several monographs focused on real estate. Diaz sits on the editorial boards of two real estate academic journals and has lectured at universities in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Diaz teaches the investment and quantitative methods curriculum in the real estate department and has chaired seven doctoral dissertations and been a member of several others. He earned his PhD in Decision Sciences from Georgia State University in 1987.

3 Jeff Fuqua graduated from the University of Denver with a BSBA in Real Estate Finance and later obtained a MBA in Real Estate Development and Real Estate Finance. Fuqua joined The Sembler Company in 1988 as a leasing representative. In 1992 Fuqua moved to Atlanta and opened the company s regional office located in the prestigious Buckhead area as senior vice president responsible for development, construction, management and leasing operations in the Southeast United States. In 1997 he was promoted to President of The Sembler Company s development division and is responsible for all of the company s shopping center development activities nationwide. In the later part of 1997, it was with great pride in Fuqua s accomplishments that the Board of the Company decided to elevate Fuqua s position to become a member of the Board, as President of Development. On April 1, 2007, Fuqua was promoted to President of The Sembler Company. Projects currently under construction/development in the Atlanta market include the Town Brookhaven, Deerfield Place, Canton Marketplace, Cumming Marketplace, and The Prado. The Sembler Company has been named the Top Commercial Retail Developer by the Atlanta Business Chronicle for the last ten consecutive years. Mike McDonald is a Managing Director and Partner of Eastdil Secured. He co-founded the Atlanta office of Eastdil Secured (predecessor Eastdil) in Prior to joining Eastdil Secured, Mr. McDonald was a Vice President of Ben Carter Properties where he focused on office and retail investment sales, acquisitions on behalf of the firm and an offshore investor and office and retail development activities. He is one of the leading investment sales professionals in the Southeast and has been involved in more than $5 billion of transactions over the past five years across the product type spectrum including office, retail, industrial and multi-family assets. Key transactions include 191 Peachtree, 1180 Peachtree, Atlanta Financial Center, The Brookdale Collection, Buckhead Plaza, Las Olas Centre, The Mall of Georgia, Miami Center, One Alliance Center, The Post Properties Apartment

4 Portfolio, and The Wildwood Collection. Mr. McDonald received a B.B.A in Banking & Finance from the University of Georgia and a Master s degree in Real Estate from Georgia State University. Mike, and his wife Stephanie, live in Sandy Springs and have three children: Macartney, Michael and Riley. He is actively involved with Children s Healthcare of Atlanta and enjoys playing golf, camping, coaching Little League baseball, reading and spending time with his family. Leo F. Wells III is the founder, President, and sole Director of Wells Real Estate Funds. A 30-year veteran of the real estate brokerage, sales, and management industries, Mr. Wells is recognized as an industry expert on real estate investment trusts (REITs) and is sought after by the media and industry speaking circuit. He has been a frequent guest on ABC, CNBC, MarketWatch, Fox Business News, and Bloomberg Television. His insights have been featured in numerous publications including Money, Investor s Business Daily, Pensions & Investments, Financial Planning, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Wall Street Transcript. He also is the national winner of the 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the financial services category. He was honored in 2006 with the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Georgia s Terry College of Business. In 2009, his company was named Atlanta s Best Place to Work among mid-sized companies by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and Mr. Wells was elected to the Board of Governors for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). Also in 2009, the Southeastern Chapter of the Real Estate Investment Advisory Council (REIAC) inducted Mr. Wells into its Hall of Distinction at Georgia State University. In his spare time, Mr. Wells enjoys travel, photography, bridge, and golf. His international travels include mission trips and National Geographic expeditions. Mr. Wells holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Georgia. Jeffrey Warwick has a progressive industry tenure of 25 years (19 with Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and has run a successful commercial real estate business for the Mid-South Region since He is responsible for a commercial real estate platform that delivers the full range of financial services to the middle-market private industry sector, including all credit and non-credit

5 products/services. The business supports a regional tier one real estate client base and incorporates complex development projects across 25 states and Canada. Prior to his current role, Warwick joined Bank of America s legacy corporation (Bank of Boston/Fleet Bank) in 1991 and served as Managing Director for the National Structured Real Estate division. From , Warwick managed national real estate workout teams for a public bank consulting firm and ran a real estate redevelopment company. Mr. Warwick education includes a bachelor s degree in Business from Georgia State University; The Harvard Program on Negotiation; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Real Estate; and Dale Carnegie Institute.