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Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Grosvenor Professorship of Real Estate Finance

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. In their academic plan, produced in 1997, the Board of Land Economy set out the case for enhancing expertise in property research in the Department of Land Economy to complement research strengths in public policy and regulations. This development was considered essential in the light of trends in the property profession, most notably the increasingly international dimension of work in the area and the shift from the use of narrow property appraisal techniques to more sophisticated methods of financial analysis. The Board of Land Economy accordingly represented to the General Board that the establishment of a Professorship in this field would promote the strategic development of the Department.

2. The General Board accepted the case made by the Board of Land Economy and published a Report to the University on 25 November 1998 (Reporter, 1998-99, p. 186) proposing the establishment of a Professorship of Real Estate Finance, for a single tenure, and as a charge on funds available to the Estate Management Development Fund. The establishment of this Professorship was approved by Grace 1 of 13 January 1999 and Professor J. Shilling was subsequently elected with effect from 1 July 2000.

3. Throughout the period since the publication of the academic plan, the Board of Land Economy have continued to develop proposals for advanced research and teaching in the field of Real Estate Finance. An opportunity has now arisen to consolidate these developments with the most generous offer from the Trustees of the Westminster Foundation to provide a benefaction of £2.055m to support the permanent endowment of a Professorship in Real Estate Finance in the Department of Land Economy. The Westminster Foundation forms part of a group of trusts and assets associated with the Grosvenor family, which includes also Grosvenor Group Holdings Ltd, a private limited company. The Trustees have also offered an endowment to Pembroke College to facilitate the establishment, in perpetuity, of a Professorial Fellowship in the College for the Grosvenor Professor, into which the Grosvenor Professor will be invited upon election.

4. The General Board and the Board of Land Economy have warmly welcomed this generous benefaction and the innovative arrangement for a College Professorial Fellowship. The General Board have agreed to the proposal that the Professorship of Real Estate Finance, established by Grace 1 of 13 January 1999, be funded from this benefaction and renamed the Grosvenor Professorship of Real Estate Finance. Professor Shilling has given his assent to this proposed change for the period of his tenure. The General Board have agreed to concur in the view of the Board of Land Economy that elections to the Professorship should be made by a standing Board of Electors. Electors will be appointed in accordance with Statute D, X, V. In accordance with the General Board's custom and practice, members of the Board of Electors will be appointed achieve a balance of internal and external members, subject expertise, gender, and Departmental representation. The Board have also accepted the recommendation that Grosvenor Group Holdings Ltd be invited to suggest the name of one person for inclusion among the General Board's three nominations to the Board of Electors, and that Pembroke College be invited to suggest the name of one person for inclusion among the Board of Land Economy's three nominations to the Board of Electors.

5. The General Board recommend:

I. That the generous offer of a benefaction from the Westminster Foundation for the establishment of a Professorship and the support of work in real estate finance and related areas be accepted.

II. That the Professorship of Real Estate Finance established by Grace 1 of 13 January 1999 for a single tenure, be re-established permanently and renamed the Grosvenor Professorship of Real Estate Finance, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Land Economy.

III. That regulations for a Grosvenor Fund, as set out in the Schedule to this Report, be approved.

29 November 2000

ALEC N. BROERS, Vice-Chancellor
P. J. BAYLEY
KEITH GLOVER
MALCOLM GRANT
J. C. GRAY
JOHN A. LEAKE
PETER LIPTON
N. J. MACKINTOSH
ADRIAN POOLE
KATE PRETTY
M. SCHOFIELD

SCHEDULE

Grosvenor Fund

1. The sums received from the Westminster Foundation for the support of work in real estate finance within the Department of Land Economy shall form a fund called the Grosvenor Fund.

2. The Fund shall be under the control of a Board of Managers who shall be:

(a) the Head of the Department of Land Economy as Chairman;
(b) two persons appointed by the General Board, at least one of whom shall be appointed on the nomination of Grosvenor Group Holdings Ltd;
(c) the Grosvenor Professsor of Real Estate Finance;
(d) not more than two persons co-opted at the discretion of the Managers.

Members in class (b) shall be appointed in the Michaelmas Term to serve for four years from 1 January following their appointment. Members in class (d) shall serve until 31 December of the year in which they are co-opted or of the following year, as the Managers shall decide at the time of their co-optation.

3. The first charge on the income of the Fund shall be the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs payable by the University in respect of the Grosvenor Professor of Real Estate Finance.

4. After provision has been made in accordance with Regulation 3, the income of the Fund shall be applied at the discretion of the Managers for the support of work in real estate finance for charitable and public benefit in the Department of Land Economy.

5. Any unexpended income of the Fund in a financial year may be either added to the capital of the Fund or accumulated for use as income in future years, as the Managers shall determine.


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Cambridge University Reporter, 13 December 2000
Copyright © 2000 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.