HEC Paris will partner with the Wisconsin School of Business of the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the development and delivery of a new Real Estate program at HEC, as part of the HEC Real Estate Chair sponsored by Morgan Stanley and Unibail-Rodamco. Ranked #2 by U.S. News & World Report among leading Real Estate programs in the United States, the Wisconsin School of Business will contribute its experience and bring a truly international dimension to HEC’s program.

Under the partnership, Wisconsin School of Business Professors François Ortalo-Magné and Timothy Riddiough will teach HEC Paris’ first-ever Real Estate Finance course in spring 2009. Professors Ortalo-Magné and Riddiough are world-class leaders in real estate finance and economics, have extensive experience in teaching real estate courses to undergraduate, MBA and PhD students, and are active in a number of real estate professional circles.

Ortalo-Magné is Chairman of the Department of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics at Wisconsin. Riddiough is Academic Director of the department’s James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate.

The Real Estate Finance course will be taught as part of a Certificate in Real Estate offered to HEC Paris students enrolled in MSc in Management, MBA and CEMS programs. In addition to HEC’s own permanent faculty, the new Real Estate program will feature practitioners from Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Unibail-Rodamco and other corporate partners, including bankers, developers, architects, and lawyers.

“What the recent mortgage meltdown and subsequent spill over into financial markets proves is the pressing need to train highly qualified practitioners capable to handle the increasing sophistication and securitization of the global real estate sector,” says Alessandro Citanna, Professor of Economics and Finance at HEC Paris and head of the Real Estate program. “We are pleased to welcome two of the world’s leading researchers in real estate finance and economics to help HEC roll-out its new Certificate program.”

Last June, HEC Paris together with the HEC Foundation, Morgan Stanley Real Estate and Unibail-Rodamco established a “Real Estate Chair” at HEC Paris to promote academic and business education across Europe in the fields of real estate economics, finance and management. The Certificate in Real Estate program is made possible by this Chair. HEC Paris is considering whether to offer the Certificate as an independent program in the near future.