A new gift will endow the Penn State University Cocziello Institute of Real Estate Innovation directorship, the university said recently.
Just four years after launching the institute, Peter and Sharon Cocoziello have made a seven-figure commitment to endow the directorship. The gift will provide the institute’s leader, now named the Advance Realty Investors Director, with resources to expand cutting-edge research, industry-facing initiatives and corporate partnerships, the university said.
“After accumulating decades of success as entrepreneurs in the real estate industry, Peter and Sharon understand that aligning expertise, urgency and creativity can rapidly advance an industry,” Andrew Read, senior vice president for research at Penn State, said. “Their gift to endow the Advance Realty Investors Directorship will empower the institute to be both nimble and aggressive in testing new ideas and forging relationships with industry partners with the potential to transform the real estate sector. I thank Peter and Sharon for once again elevating the institute’s national profile and positioning our faculty and students for success.”
The institute’s mission is to identify and solve real estate’s most pressing challenges through cross-disciplinary collaboration and education. To accomplish this, the institute connects students and faculty with industry leaders, so that they can develop and test solutions that advance the industry – from amphibious housing to 3D-printed materials.
The Cocoziello Institute is currently preparing to launch a new industry partnership membership model to expand engagement across sectors like construction, development, architecture, engineering, infrastructure, prop-tech and related sectors. The model will offer opportunities for partners to collaborate with faculty and students. By formalizing the relationships, the institute hopes to accelerate real estate innovation and create pathways to commercialization while ensuring its work is informed by the needs of the market.
“Sharon and I understand the challenges facing the real estate industry, and we know how important it is to have partners in higher education with expertise that help address those challenges and prepare the next generation of leaders,” Peter Cocoziello said. “Our hope is that an endowed directorship will elevate the program and attract more students passionate about real estate.”