Author: iresnet

IRES held its first virtual symposium for doctoral students October 28-30, 2020. Doctoral students from around the globe were invited to submit a video presentation of their research in the areas of real estate finance and investment, urban and housing economics, urban planning, real estate sustainability and related fields. Nine students from among these were selected by the committee to make a live presentation and receive feedback from a mentor. Three students were chosen to receive best presentation awards of $1,000 sponsored by the James R. Webb ARES Foundation. The three winners of the presentation awards are:

Congratulations as well to the other finalists:

• Lingshan Xie (University College London)
• Charlotte van der Lijn (University of Sheffield)
• Simon Stehle (University of Konstanz)
• Aleksandar Petresk (Jönköping International Business School)
• Han Liu (The George Washington University)
• Wei Lin (University of St. Gallen)

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Mentors: Dr. Kola Akinsomi, Dr. Yi Fan, Dr. Jeremy Gabe, Dr. Kwan Ok Lee, Dr. Rose Lai, Dr. Masaki Mori, Dr. Woei Chyung Wong, Dr. Peter Wyatt, and Dr. Nafeesa Yunus.

The Symposium was organized by an international committee comprised of Dr. Masaki Mori (chair), Dr. Jeremy Gabe, Dr. Kwan Ok Lee, Dr. Paloma Talavull de La Paz, and Mr. Alessandro Verdrossi.

The 2020 IRES awards were announced at the IRES Board meeting on June 2.   The recipients are:

IRES Achievement Award: Andrew Baum

Dr. Baum has researched and published about real estate investment and valuation for more than 30 years. He is the author or co-author of seven books and has published on topics such as international investment in the Journal of European Real Estate Research  and Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, among others. Dr. Baum served as Professor of Land Management at the University of Reading and is now Professor of Practice at University of Oxford.  He is the founder of the Reading Real Estate Foundation, an educational charity established to support real estate education. In addition, Dr. Baum has held leadership positions with multiple real estate firms, including Henderson Global Investors and CBRE Global Investment Partners .  He has been a keynote speaker at several ERES and PRRES conferences as well as the 2001 IRES World Congress.

IRES Service Award: Martin Hoesli

Dr. Hoesli is Professor of Real Estate and Finance at the Universities of Geneva and Aberdeen and at Kedge Business School. He has been an active member of ERES, currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors as well as President 2003-2004. He is always supportive of activities such as conferences and seminars. He is a long serving member of the IRES Board of Directors and was elected President of IRES in 2017.

IRES Corporate Leadership Award:  South African Council for Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP)

The South African Council for Property Valuers Profession  is a strong supporter of real estate research, education, and professional practice.  The organization has taken a leadership role in advising and accrediting real estate education programs in South Africa. In addition, it has been in the forefront of professionalizing the valuation profession in South Africa.  On an international scale, SACPVP has furthered the mission of the African Real Estate Society by partnering in organizing three AfRES annual conferences as well as providing the organization financial and staff support.

The International Real Estate Society (IRES) is a federation of regional real estate societies that encourages global cooperation on research and education.  The mission of IRES is to: (1) encourage communication, cooperation, and coordination regarding real estate research and education; (2) encourage and assist in establishment of real estate education and research programs; (3) encourage research on international real estate topics; and (4) encourage and facilitate faculty exchanges. 

The federation consists of the American Real Estate Society, European Real Estate Society, Pacific Rim Real Estate Society, Asian Real Estate Society, African Real Estate Society, and Latin American Real Estate Society.  IRES annually presents three prestigious awards.  Nominations come from individual members of the regional societies and the recipient is decided by a vote of a committee comprised of one representative from each of the regional organizations and one industry representative.  Further information and the names of past recipients can be found at the IRES website, iresnet.net.

The international real estate research community mourns the loss of one our leaders. Akin Olawore represented the best of what our organization was created to achieve: encouraging communication, cooperation, and coordination of real estate research and education on a worldwide basis.
Akin took on our mission as his own. He played a vital role within the African Real Estate Society and assisted with its integration and recognition among its global sister societies. His efforts were recognized with the IRES Service Award in 2011. However, Akin’s work was not confined to Africa. He was elected President of IRES in 2013 to lead the global association of six sister societies.

During his years on the IRES Board of Directors and as President, Akin was a voice of reason and compromise. A true diplomat, he represented all the societies with equal consideration and concern. He emphasized the need for the Latin American and African societies to mature and become equal working partners with the older, more established organizations. He also explored the potential for the creation of a Middle East North African Real Estate Society.
A truly global citizen, Akin developed bonds and friendships on all the continents amongst academics and professionals. We appreciate how much he shared of himself with us. He will be sorely missed.

On behalf of the Officers and Board of Directors,

Part of the mission of the International Real Estate Society (IRES) is to encourage communication, co-operation, and co-ordination regarding real estate research and education on a world-wide basis as well as to encourage research on international real estate topics. Thus, among its core activities is to encourage advancement of knowledge through research and the sharing of that knowledge with peers, students and the public.

Freedom in research is fundamental to the advancement of truth. As such, IRES recognizes the importance of the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic freedom, intellectual freedom, and freedom of expression gives one the right and obligation as a scholar to question assumptions, challenge conventional wisdom, rigorously examine data, and share the conclusions. The freedom to explore significant and controversial questions is essential to fulfill the mission of educating students and advancing knowledge.

Academic freedom also comes with responsibilities. Communal inquiry and debate are at the heart of the academy. Researchers should be accurate and should show respect for the opinions of others. Academic responsibility requires researchers to submit their results to rigorous and public review by peers who are experts in the same field and to ground their arguments in the best available evidence.

The advancement of knowledge through research requires that scholars be able to pursue their work uninhibited by fear of offending outside forces. Scholars require the freedom to pursue their ideas wherever they lead, unconstrained by the beliefs of politicians, administrators or members of the public.