On Sunday, May 21st, 2023, 75 students will be graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a Minor in Real Estate. This is the largest class of students the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate (FIRE) has graduated since its inception just four years ago. 

FIRE launched the Real Estate Minor in 2019 in partnership with the Department of Finance in the Mendoza College of Business. The Minor in Real Estate is now one of the largest minors on campus – with over 450 students set to return next year. The graduates in real estate come from every college and a diverse range of majors, finance and architecture, economics and business analytics, history and accounting, civil and electrical engineering, biochemistry and science preprofessional, among others. 

After graduation, many of these 75 members of the Class of 2023 will be entering careers in real estate and related fields.  Among the real estate firms in which FIRE students will be starting full-time jobs are: Ares Management, Artemis Real Estate Partners, Bain Capital Real Estate, Bank of America, Bellwether Asset Management, Eastdil Secured, EQT Exeter, Goldman Sachs AIMS Real Estate Group, Harrison Street, Hines, JLL Capital Markets, Piper Sandler, Raymond James, and Robert A.M. Stern Architects.

Profiles of Class Leaders

All of Notre Dame’s graduates in real estate have had unforgettable undergraduate experiences with unparalleled opportunities.  In celebration of our seniors’ accomplishments, two of our seniors are highlighted below:

Kelly Gorman (’23) is graduating with a degree in Applied & Computational Mathematics & Statistics with minors in both Philosophy, Politics & Economics and Real Estate. Kelly joined the Real Estate minor her sophomore year after working on the Walton Street Capital project as part of a Student International Business Council (SIBC) team.

On that project, Gorman met Kelly Koons, a Real Estate minor from the Class of '22 who now works at Ares Management in real estate. According to Gorman, “her passion and dedication for FIRE were inspiring to me.”  Following Gorman’s sophomore year, she interned for Annaly Capital Management, a real estate investment trust (REIT) in New York, where her passion for the industry deepened.

“Throughout my time in the minor,” says Gorman, “affordable housing, private equity, and development were my favorite facets to learn about.” She also participated in a global real estate study abroad class in Thailand last summer through the Fitzgerald Institute where she became particularly interested in the hospitality sector of real estate.

Following graduation, Gorman is joining the AIMS Real Estate Group at Goldman Sachs in New York City. She is “committed to continuously learning and gaining more experience in various aspects of real estate” as she hopes to “make a meaningful impact on the built environment.”

Lauren Vallace (’23) is graduating with a degree in Economics as well as minors in both Real Estate and Chinese. Vallace also joined the Real Estate minor during her sophomore year at Notre Dame.  At the time, she was unsure of what she wanted her career to look like one day – according to Lauren, “It was a right place, right time moment.” Inspired by her father’s career in commercial real estate and her curiosity about an industry that draws people together, she joined the Real Estate minor and claims it was “one of the best decisions I have ever made.” 

Vallace says her professors, mentors, and FIRE Advisory Board members have taught her “the power of being a force for good in our community and in the world.”  Vallace and Daniel Romito ’23 have served as co-presidents of the Notre Dame Real Estate Club.

After graduation, Lauren will be working for Hines in Chicago as a Real Estate Acquisitions and Development Analyst.  Her long-term goals involve helping “the Catholic Church find the highest and best use for their real assets” – a passion of hers that stemmed from her research involvement with FIRE’s Church Properties Initiative.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Graduation is a time of reflection.  When asked: “What was your favorite real estate class at ND and why?” Kelly Gorman and Lauren Vallace both responded by saying: Real Estate Private Equity with Professor Mike O’Malley. 

Kelly remarked that “every aspect of that class was amazing,” as Professor O’Malley “brought great insight as a real estate professional” especially through projects that “were accurate representations of what working in real estate private equity would be like.”  Likewise, Lauren noted that “Professor O’Malley’s practical and interactive approach to teaching equipped her and her classmates to enter the industry post-grad in full force.  I have never met a professor who cares more deeply about his students, and being a life-time mentor to anyone who asks for help.”  Fittingly, Professor O’Malley served as this year’s real estate commencement speaker, offering words of wisdom to the graduating students and their families.

Congratulations to all of the Class of 2023 graduates in real estate!  As you go forth from the University of Notre Dame, we hope that you will continue to help create places of lasting value.  Please stay in touch with FIRE – we are always here for you – and, like previous generations of alumni, help future Notre Dame students obtain internships and full-time jobs in real estate.  

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About the Institute

Notre Dame's Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate (FIRE) educates and inspires exceptional students, conducts world-class research, and engages with an unparalleled network of industry professionals to create places of lasting value. Through rigorous scholarship and collaborations across disciplinary lines, FIRE strives to be the top real estate program in the country, doing so in a way that promotes Notre Dame’s mission to be a force for good in our nation and world.

For questions about FIRE, please contact FIRE’s Senior Associate Director, Geno Acosta at eacosta2@nd.edu. 

To support FIRE and real estate students at ND, click here.