Jaffe To Head Smeal's Insurance And Real Estate Department

Austin J. Jaffe, Philip H. Sieg Professor of Business Administration, has been named chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Department at Penn State's Smeal College of Business for a three-year term effective Jan. 1, 2006.

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (December 13, 2005)—Austin J. Jaffe, Philip H. Sieg Professor of Business Administration, has been named chair of the Insurance and Real Estate Department at Penn State's Smeal College of Business for a three-year term effective Jan. 1, 2006.

Jaffe will replace Kenneth Lusht, who takes over as interim dean in January. Dean Judy Olian departs Smeal this month to become dean of UCLA's Anderson School of Management.

"Having worked closely with Austin for the past five years, I admire his leadership abilities and commitment to the insurance and real estate department," says Olian. "I know the department will continue to build on Ken Lusht's legacy and will grow even stronger under Austin's guidance."

Jaffe has been a faculty member at Smeal for more than 25 years, researching and teaching real estate financial analysis, the economics of property rights, the economic effects of legal institutions, and the conceptual basis of property. He is an internationally renowned expert in these areas, traveling frequently across the globe to speak and teach

Jaffe also serves as the director of international programs for the college. In this capacity he oversees the international immersion portion of the Smeal MBA program and coordinates all international learning and study abroad for Smeal students. Currently, more than 300 Smeal students annually attend education abroad programs throughout the world.

Prior to joining Smeal, Jaffe was a faculty member at the University of Oregon. He has also held faculty appointments at several international universities and served as a consultant to The World Bank and the Nordic Council of Ministers, among others.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.