David C. Ling, a leading real estate finance scholar at the University of Florida, is scheduled to deliver Penn State’s seventh annual Austin J. Jaffe Real Estate Lecture. The event will take place from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 28 at the University Park campus, where Ling will examine performance differences between public and private commercial real estate investments.
Key takeaways
- Ling will speak Aug. 28 at Penn State University Park.
- His presentation will compare public and private commercial real estate investment performance.
- The lecture honors the late Penn State professor Austin Jaffe.
- The event is supported by the Jaffe family’s endowment.
Focus on investment performance
Ling’s presentation will explore how publicly traded and privately held commercial real estate investments perform. The topic is central to investors, institutions and researchers evaluating risk, returns, liquidity and market exposure across different real estate vehicles.
The lecture reflects Ling’s broad research portfolio, which includes real estate investment trusts, private commercial property markets, institutional investor behavior and the impact of climate change on property values.
A prominent voice in real estate finance
Ling is the Ken and Linda McGurn Professor of Real Estate at the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business. He is also co-author of “Real Estate Principles: A Value Approach,” a widely used textbook now in its eighth edition.
His professional honors include the American Real Estate Society’s 2024 James A. Grasskamp Award, the 2010 David Ricardo Medal and the 2011 George Bloom Award from the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. Ling earned his doctorate in real estate and economics from Ohio State University in 1984.
He serves on the editorial boards of Real Estate Economics and the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and has been a board member of the Real Estate Research Institute since 2004.
Continuing Austin Jaffe’s legacy
The lecture series was established to honor Austin Jaffe, a longtime Penn State Smeal College of Business faculty member who died in 2019. Jaffe was the Philip H. Sieg Professor of Business Administration and held leadership roles involving international programs, real estate studies and the Department of Risk Management.
The series brings prominent scholars to Penn State to discuss research and industry issues with students and the broader academic community. It began with its inaugural lecture in 2021 and has since featured experts from institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, the National University of Singapore, Maastricht University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Event support and significance
The program is sponsored through a gift from Jaffe’s wife, Lynn, his children Alex and Roxanne, and family friends. Brent Ambrose, director of Penn State Smeal’s Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies, said Ling’s participation continues the series’ goal of presenting influential scholarship in real estate.
By bringing research on public and private markets to campus, the lecture will offer students and professionals an opportunity to consider how investment structures shape commercial real estate outcomes.
Sources
- University of Florida’s Ling to deliver 7th annual Jaffe Real Estate Lecture, The Pennsylvania State University.