When the School of Business decided to launch a real estate program, it had no blueprint, budget, or faculty for the initiative. But it had Robert Valero. And that was enough.
Valero, who developed the playbook for what has become the GW Center for Real Estate Studies (CRES), is the consummate connector. The executive director of the center since its inception in 2010, he takes great pleasure in matching students to classes that meet their aspirations, in linking alumni to talented students, and in introducing alumni to other alumni.
But, more than anything, Valero excels at connecting students to jobs. As he prepares to retire—after building CRES from the ground up—his legacy is anchored by his success in advancing the next generation of professionals in an industry that is critically important to the U.S. economy. The real estate sector accounted for nearly 14 percent of GDP in 2024, or more than $4 trillion.
“I think the center is unique to the whole university, mostly because of what Rob has been able to create here,” said Research Professor of Real Estate Stephen O’Connor, the faculty chair for CRES. “If I had to boil it down, we’re a career center for our real estate students. The successful placement of our students in both internships and full-time job opportunities is incomparable.”
The center’s initial work was underpinned by the contributions of an advisory council of real estate professionals, most of them alumni, and faculty working in the Department of Finance. The program’s first year also gained momentum from what may have been Valero’s most consequential decision—to let undergraduates enroll in existing graduate-level classes in real estate. Valero called it a “strategic move” that continues to give some GW undergraduates a competitive edge in the job market.
“Being a sophomore and being able to take the classes I’m taking now, like real estate investment and advanced real estate modeling, is something that I did not think I’d be able to do so early in my career at GW,” said Vincent Brusco, Class of 2027.
For Valero, it has always been about the students. While shepherding CRES’s academic programming, he developed career treks, planned networking events, opened doors to internships, and activated a jobs pipeline that helps students kick-start their careers. He also created an experiential learning boot camp, REFA, that has become a signature initiative at CRES, and he encouraged students to launch a real estate club. He has cultivated a young leaders group of about 40 recent grads who mentor students and help with CRES events.
All these efforts hinge on a mainstay in the real estate industry: personal relationships. Valero is a wizard in building and retaining them.
“What I love best in my job is when I have a student coming to me and saying he or she is looking for a particular position—and I can think of an alumnus I can connect with the student. I love being able to connect our students,” Valero said. “I remember one time when a student, a senior, told me where he had applied for a job. I knew an alum who worked for that company, someone I trust. He emailed the CEO of the company about the applicant.
“My goal has been to grow the program with happy students who will become happy alumni,” he explained.
One of those happy alumni, Max Hengeveld at Drake Real Estate Partners in New York, said he has been struck by how deeply Valero cares about students.
“He will latch onto the thing he perceives you want to do, and he will help you do it. He’ll say, ‘I know this person and this person and you need to come to this event because this person will be there,’” Hengeveld said. “He is like this with all the students. He has everyone’s best interest at heart and he is looking for ways to help people figure out what they can do and the people they need to meet to do it.”
Hengeveld, BBA ’16, was a sophomore at GW, newly transferred into the School of Business, when he met Valero through an online event where students were randomly paired with another student or a staff or faculty member for two and a half minutes before going on to the next person, much like speed dating.
“Rob and I got connected for two minutes and he said, ‘Here’s where my office is. Come and see me sometime.’ At the time, I honestly had no idea what I wanted to do. … I was rudderless. I was watching [the TV series] “Mad Men” so I was interested in marketing. But finance also sounded appealing—and banking. I just really didn’t know what was out there.
“So, Rob invited me to an event the real estate club was putting on. And then I knew what I wanted to do,” he said.
A Dynamic Real Estate Training Ground
Valero described the metro D.C. area as a “living laboratory” for real estate, pointing to a multitude of high profile commercial real estate development projects, the large presence of area alumni in the profession, and the willingness of developers and their teams to take students on tours of the projects. He added that real estate alumni in New York—just four hours away—are also actively engaged with GW students.
“We’ve had alumni building huge projects who take students on a deep drive into those buildings. Need some coaching? I have a cadre of alumni who are willing to speak with students,” Valero said. “When we do career treks to NY every year, it takes me only 30 minutes to come up with our hosts. It takes me longer to work around the logistics of the trip.”
The nation’s capital is also the best place to learn about housing policy, including affordable housing issues, one of CRES’s research areas. Students not only hear presentations from experts on housing policy in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, but they have met with the director of a homeless shelter.
“This is what GW is all about. We’re inside the classroom, outside the classroom. We’re always bringing people here to meet with our students. It’s something we’re proud of,” Valero said.
When Valero was hired to lead CRES, it was a homecoming. He graduated from GW in 1982 with a degree in public affairs. What followed was a career that included speechwriting for the secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, work for a transportation trade association and, eventually, a leadership position with a real estate association. When speaking with students, he points to his career path as an example of how you never know where a degree can take you.
Valero said CRES has been his dream job and leaving the center will be bittersweet. He spent the summer documenting as much as he could about CRES for his successor, from how students are selected for the program to his long list of industry contacts. To mark CRES’s 15th anniversary this year, GW has launched a fundraising effort anchored by the Rob Valero Director’s Fund.
“I’ve had a great run here. Many people never find the place where they should be. I did with CRES,” Valero said. “It has given me great satisfaction to work with the students. We’ve taken the program a long way and I’m proud of that.”
During his time as a GW student, Valero only took one course in the School of Business. And now he leaves his imprint on an entire business degree program—and the careers of a thousand graduates.