Dustin Jones Appointed Academic Director of the 
NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate


Noted Urbanist Joins NYU SPS from Cornell’s Baker Program in Real Estate

New York, NY—August 3, 2020—The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYU SPS) Schack Institute of Real Estate today announced the appointment of Dustin C. Jones, JD, as academic director for US Graduate Programs. Jones joins the Schack Institute from the Baker Program in Real Estate at Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson College of Business, where he has served as Baker’s executive director and a member of the faculty for the last six years.

“Dustin is a leader in both the real estate and academic communities. His appointment comes at a critical time for the Schack Institute,” said Sam Chandan, PhD, Silverstein Chair of the Schack Institute. “I am excited to partner with Dustin as we further the expansion of our graduate programs in the United States and China, announce new corporate and executive education opportunities, and deepen our world-renowned industry engagement.”

Prior to joining Cornell, Jones was a partner at Polsinelli, an Am Law 100 firm, where he focused on land use and zoning.  At Cornell’s Ithaca and Roosevelt Island, New York City campuses, he has taught graduate-level courses in real estate development, transactions, and deal structuring, as well as real estate technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. He also led global real estate programs in Dubai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, and Vancouver.

“I am thrilled to join Schack's distinguished faculty of scholars and industry leaders,” said Jones. “The Institute is known around the world for its innovative undergraduate and graduate curricula, which draw students from nearly 50 countries, and its applied research and conference programs.”

Jones recently joined Chandan for the Schack Institute’s Black Experience in the Real Estate Industry program, which drew a live audience of more than 1,000 industry professionals and was widely covered by Bloomberg and other press. Jones moderated a panel on the role of anchor institutions in strengthening diversity and inclusion goals at real estate firms and in capital raising and urban development.

About the NYU SPS Schack Institute of Real Estate
Founded in 1967 by Larry Silverstein and the leadership of the New York City real estate industry, the Schack Institute is at the forefront of real estate education and is recognized globally as one of the world’s leading centers of real estate research and pedagogy. Across the Institute’s four degree programs—the MS in Real Estate, the MS in Construction Management, the MS in Real Estate Development, and the BS in Real Estate—enrollment has grown to more than 700 full- and part-time students from across the United States and nearly 50 other countries. In addition to its flagship degree programs, thousands of working professionals enroll in the Schack Institute’s executive education, certificate, and career advancement programs each year.

An anchor of real estate academia’s engagement with industry, the Institute is home to the CREFC Center for Real Estate Finance, the REIT Center, the Urban Lab, and the Center for the Sustainable Built Environment. In addition, the Institute hosts national industry events, including annual conferences on real estate capital markets, the REIT sector, and sustainability.

Under the direction of the Schack Institute’s faculty, ongoing applied research at the Institute spans a wide range of issues in real estate development and investment, urban economics, and market structure and regulation.