Sam Chandan

Overview

Sam Chandan is a distinguished leader in real estate finance and education, currently serving as the Founding Director of the Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at NYU Stern School of Business. In this role, he oversees the school's applied real estate research initiatives, industry and policy engagement, and undergraduate and MBA real estate programs. Prior to joining Stern in February 2022, Professor Chandan was the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair and academic dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate at the NYU School of Professional Studies. He is also the founder of Chandan Economics, an economic advisory and data science firm serving the institutional real estate industry, and a contributor to Forbes. Additionally, he hosts the Urban Lab on Apple Podcasts. In his leadership roles, Professor Chandan has been instrumental in advancing diversity and inclusion within the real estate sector. He serves as the global chair of the Real Estate Pride Council, an association of LGBTQ+ leaders in the built environment professions, and is a member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC). In 2017, he founded the National Symposium of Women in Real Estate (WIRE), which has grown into one of the industry's largest annual mentorship forums connecting senior executives and early-career women in real estate. Professor Chandan's academic credentials include a BSc in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Economics and an MSc in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD in Applied Economics from the Wharton School. His research interests encompass real estate capital markets, urban epidemiology, and the preparedness of global cities in managing public health threats. He holds honorary appointments as the Economist Laureate of the Real Estate Lenders Association and has served on the real estate advisory council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. His commentary on commercial and residential real estate markets and the broader economy has been featured in national and global press, including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, and Bloomberg.