MU will use $3.75 million gift

to establish real estate chair
Marquette University will use proceeds from a $3.75 million gift to establish the Robert Bernard Bell Sr. Chair in Real Estate in the College of Business Administration’s Department of Finance.
The donation from the Bell family will endow the new chair in honor of Robert Bernard Bell Sr., retired president of First Realty Co., a family-owned real estate management and investment firm with extensive holdings in Illinois, Wisconsin, Colorado and California. The gift is the largest donated to the College of Business Administration.
“The Robert Bernard Bell Sr. Chair in Real Estate will augment our ability to prepare students for leadership roles in business,” said David L. Shrock, dean of the College of Business Administration. “The generosity of the Bell family will allow the College of Business Administration to address a significant segment of the economy, with expanded offerings in real estate within the finance major and MBA program.”
Peter Bell, Robert Bell’s son and president of the company since 1975, said the new chair position will strengthen the College of Business Administration’s academic mission to not only prepare tomorrow’s leaders in the field of business but to also attract the best faculty to Marquette.
“On behalf of our family, this gift symbolizes my father’s lifelong commitment to the real estate profession and his unwavering Christian principles, above all else, that characterized his day-to-day approach to business and professional relationships,” said Peter Bell. “It is our family’s hope and desire that future generations not only understand the pragmatic principles of real estate management and entrepreneurship, but more importantly, carry out the ethical principles that have been our family’s tradition.”
First Realty was founded in 1856 in Chicago. Robert Bell Sr. was president from 1959 to 1975. He has been an active member of the Institute of Real Estate Management since 1947.
Recently, Robert Bell Sr. celebrated his 91st birthday. He has six grown children, all graduates of Marquette University, 21 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
The chair holder will be expected to raise awareness of the real estate management profession on campus and in the community, provide leadership in developing undergraduate and graduate specializations, and address related areas such as property management, real estate development, appraisal, asset negotiations, risk management, entrepreneurship, and project and construction management. The chair holder will also organize a lecture series that will enable real estate leaders within the Milwaukee real estate community, as well as from across the country, to address real estate issues with students and the business community.
A chair holder is expected to be named in the fall of 2002.
July 20, 2001 Small Business Times, Milwaukee