New Director for Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate
Elaine Worzala is an experienced administrator, professor and researcher.
Elaine Worzala will join SDSU in August after serving 3½ years as executive director of the Carter Real Estate Center at the College of Charleston. She will also join SDSU’s finance department in the College of Business Administration as a fully tenured professor of real estate.
“SDSU's College of Business Administration conducted a nationwide search to select a highly regarded leader in the field of real estate academics, who was also a proven success as a center director," said Mehdi Salehizadeh, chair of the finance department. “In Dr. Worzala, we have found an experienced university real estate center administrator with an outstanding track record as a professor and researcher."
Worzala, who previously led the Richard H. Pennell Center for Real Estate at Clemson University, has also taught at the Edward St. John Department of Real Estate at Johns Hopkins University. She earned her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a specialization in real estate and urban land economics.
Alumni support
The Corky McMillin Center for Real Estate was established with a gift from the McMillin family and named in honor of their father, one of Southern California's most prominent home builders for more than four decades. Leaders in regional real estate and related industries are among its supporters.
“Philanthropic support from the real estate industry has allowed SDSU to build a strong real estate program, support its students and hire faculty with proven experience in the field,” said Mary Ruth Carleton, vice president of University Relations and Development. “Dr. Worzala will continue this tradition of success by preparing SDSU students for careers in real estate.”
Worzala said she is eager to work with alumni from the SDSU real estate program to strengthen both the academic program and the McMillin Center.
“San Diego State has been educating real estate professionals since 1959, and I look forward to working with the many SDSU real estate alumni,” said Worzala.
“The large alumni base, together with regional industry professionals who are friends of SDSU, will give our students a valuable network to tap for support, advice and work experience. It is my personal goal to provide all SDSU real estate students with the real-world experience necessary to be day-one ready for the job market," she added.
