The NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Schack Institute of Real Estate launched the Hirsh Fellows program in the Fall 2019 semester. The Hirsh Fellows program enrolls 15-20 exceptional full-time students each fall to obtain a Master of Science in Real Estate (MSRE) with a concentration in Finance and Investment.

Building on Schack’s world-renowned MSRE, the Hirsh Fellows program offers a highly specialized one-year academic and co-curricular cohort experience that prepares students for management and executive positions in the real estate industry. The selected cohort begins its one-year program in late August, prior to the start of the regular semester.

Hirsh Fellows take their core courses as a group and have access to the full range of Schack’s MSRE electives. The curriculum spans the many facets of the real estate industry with an emphasis on analytics, entrepreneurship, and organizational leadership. Highlights of the co-curricular program include a global field intensive during January; a spring semester internship with a Schack advisory board member firm; and a one-on-one pairing with an advisory board mentor for each student.

Applications for the Hirsh Fellows Program are currently being accepted for Fall 2021.

In order to be eligible to apply, candidates must submit an online application through the NYUSPS website (sps.nyu.edu). In addition to the standard MSRE application requirements, students applying for the Hirsh Fellows program will also be required to submit; standardized test scores (GRE or GMAT) and a supplemental essay. Finalists selected will be invited to participate in an in-person interview.

The program is supported by an endowment gift by NYU alumni Liz and David Z. Hirsh. Liz Hirsh received her MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business in 1994, and David Hirsh received his MS in Real Estate Development from the Schack Institute in 1990, currently serves as the Vice Chairman of the school’s Advisory Board and an adjunct professor.

David Z. Hirsh is a veteran real estate investor with more than 30 years of experience across all major real estate product types. Over the course of his career, he has completed in excess of $30 billion in transactions and established himself as an industry veteran in areas including asset management, asset sales and dispositions, lending, workouts, and restructuring.

Hirsh spent the last sixteen years with Blackstone’s Real Estate Asset Management Group, retiring in January 2018 with plans to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities. During his tenure at Blackstone, he oversaw day-to-day and strategic management of Equity Office Properties, IndCor Industrial Properties, LXR Hotels and Resorts, and several investments in the retail and senior housing sectors. Additionally, from 2009 to 2012 David led the effort to restructure and extend the debt on numerous investments in Blackstone’s real estate portfolio.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Hirsh worked at Citigroup for 15 years, including six years in real estate asset management, where he led the company’s hotel group. Prior to that, Hirsh spent five years in corporate finance, and specialized in corporate real estate and project lending. Hirsh received a BBA in Accounting from Pace University and his MS in Real Estate Development from the Schack Institute. In addition to serving as Vice Chairman of the Schack Institute’s Advisory Board and as a member of its adjunct faculty, his civic and philanthropic commitments include serving as chair of the Thyroid Head and Neck Cancer Foundation and the Thyroid Care Collaborative, and as chair of Caring Kind, formerly the New York Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association of America.