As the state’s real estate market starts showing trends of recovery, the Carter Real Estate Center at the College of Charleston School of Business is ramping up under new leadership. Nationally recognized real estate professor Elaine Worzala, Ph.D has joined the Center from Clemson University where she was a professor of real estate and the director of the Richard H. Pennell Center for Real Estate Development.
The Carter Real Estate Center provides support for the commercial real estate program housed in the School of Business. The Center will focus on working more closely with the commercial real estate industry to provide access for student learning opportunities including internships, guest speakers, and professional associations.
In addition, the Carter Real Estate Center will also be partnering with many of the regional and national professional associations to offer professional development programs including classes this spring toward the Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) professional certificate. The CCIM designation recognizes expertise in the commercial and investment real estate industry.
“Elaine is nationally recognized in the real estate field and brings a wealth of expertise, passion for teaching students, and applied industry research and affiliations that will bolster the Center’s contributions in real estate knowledge, resources, and graduates to the marketplace,” says Alan T. Shao, Dean of the School of Business. “The students will appreciate her emphasis on making the learning experience relevant to industry practices.”
Worzala teaches real estate investments as part of the undergraduate real estate concentration. Other courses that she has taught include introduction to the real estate process, real estate valuation, feasibility analysis and international real estate investment.
The Center was established in 2005 with generous financial contributions from Ben Carter, president and owner of Ben Carter Enterprises in Atlanta, GA, the Carter family, and other supporters from the real estate community.
Visit go.cofc.edu/cartercenter to learn more about the Carter Real Estate Center’s upcoming events, student programs and Worzala’s background.
About Elaine Worzala
Worzala holds a doctorate degree in real estate and urban land economics and a master’s degree in real estate appraisal and investment analysis from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has served as the president of both the American Real Estate Society and the International Real Estate Society and is currently serving as a board member for both organizations. Worzala has completed research grants for the National Association of Realtors, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI). Her published works are in in many mainstream real estate academic journals as well as industry-based publications and other media. Her research interests are primarily applied in institutional real estate investment, valuation and real estate education. Additionally, many of her studies take on an international perspective as she works to open up the borders as they relate to real estate markets.
In 2012, Worzala was awarded the ARES Distinguished Service Award and Clemson University’s Pennell Center was awarded CREW Upstate’s Outstanding Leadership Organization Award. Worzala also received the Chair’s Award presented by the Counselors of Real Estate at their 2013 annual spring meeting in Miami, Fla.
In 2011 she graduated from the ULI-SC Sustainability Leadership Institute and currently serves on its advisory board. She is the director of the doctoral program for the James Webb American Real Estate Society Foundation as well as the co-chair of the ICSC Academic Partnership Committee. She is also currently serving on the board of the Real Estate Research Institute, is chair of the Counselors in the Classroom program as part of her service on the Education Committee for the Counselors of Real Estate and on the advisory board of CREW Upstate. She is also a member of the Pension Real Estate Association and the Urban Land Institute.
About the School of Business
College of Charleston’s School of Business offers six undergraduate majors (with one additional major pending), an honors program, an M.S. in Accountancy and an MBA. Approximately 1800 undergraduate and graduate students attend from as far away as China, Germany and Brazil. The faculty has research expertise in areas such as global logistics, hospitality and tourism, political economics, financial investment, bankruptcy, real estate, business intelligence, and sustainable business practices. Visit to learn more about our undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty and Centers of Excellence.
