McMillin Donates $1.5 Million,
Challenges Others to Contribute to Enhance Real Estate Program

Members of the McMillin family present a check to SDSU’s Real Estate Program. Pictured are (from l to r): Scott McMillin, Corky McMillin, College of Business Administration Dean Gail Naughton, Mark McMillin and SDSU President Stephen Weber.

In November 2004, the College’s Real Estate Program received a $1.5 million gift from The Corky McMillin Companies to endow “The Corky McMillin Chair”. The new position will be filled beginning fall 2005. “This is a most generous gift and we are thankful that McMillin is a partner in making this the premier program in the state,” said Dean Gail Naughton.

For more than 40 years, the College has been educating students in a program that includes Southern California’s only comprehensive undergraduate real estate degree. The vision is to create a “ready-day-one” program for students who aspire to become leaders within the industry. These include: 1) a restructured curriculum to prepare students for today’s and tomorrow’s employment opportunities; and 2) an expanded research component that analyzes emerging trends and provides thoughtful leadership on real estate matters of community importance. The Corky McMillin Chair endowment is the first step toward fulfilling that plan.

“Our family is honored to be a part of an institution that has helped shape the future of San Diego County,” said Mark McMillin, a 1979 graduate of SDSU and vice chairman of The Corky McMillin Companies. “The university attracts thousands of people to San Diego who then stay here after graduation, obtaining employment and becoming valuable corporate citizens, contributing to our local economy in many ways.”

The Corky McMillin Companies has been serving the real estate needs of families in California from its San Diego County headquarters since 1960. Comprised of five core companies, each with its own specialty: McMillin Homes, with nearly 20,000 homes to its name up and down the state; McMillin Land Development, creating master-planned communities in San Diego and Riverside counties; McMillin Commercial, building office, retail and industrial complexes throughout San Diego County; McMillin Realty, the county’s largest independent real estate brokerage with an additional office in Bakersfield, Calif., and McMillin Mortgage, a direct home-loan lender and mortgage broker.

“McMillin has long been a beneficiary of SDSU, by hiring from their graduate pool of talent, and we are pleased to be partnering with the university to ensure the on-going success of both of our organizations,” said Scott McMillin, vice chairman. “Many McMillin employees and real estate agents obtained their degrees from SDSU and we need a local pool of talent to draw from in order to continue to grow our company and America’s Finest City.”

Mark McMillin made the gift announcement during the Entrepreneurial Management Center’s Closely-held and Family Business Conference on November 10 at the Hilton Torrey Pines. During the presentation, McMillin used the gift to challenge others in the real estate industry to step-up and provide additional funding for the SDSU program.

Grubb & Ellis l BRE Commercial Respond to the Challenge

In early December, Grubb & Ellis/BRE Commercial pledged $100,000 to begin the process of funding a faculty professorship in Real Estate. The College is seeking to endow two faculty professorships, each at the $500,000 level. In addition to its donation, Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial plans to initiate a rotational internship program in which more students can gain exposure to various aspects of real estate rather than focus solely on one specialty.

“Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial believes it’s important to not only educate students in the classroom, but also to connect them with practicing brokers who can share with them real-world experiences and knowledge,” said John Frager, Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial president and CEO.

“SDSU has provided many of our brokers with an educational foundation that has enabled them to succeed in San Diego real estate,” Frager said. “Our brokers have established close personal ties with San Diego businesses and posses a strong sense of community. Grubb & Ellis|BRE Commercial is committed to supporting SDSU in its quest to retain high-quality and experienced faculty and to working closely with the university to further strengthen its real estate program.”

Barratt American Continues the Challenge

Michael Pattinson, president of Barratt American, Inc., also responded to the McMillin challenge with a $50,000 pledge and a promise to double it if others contribute. “California’s population of 36 million people is expected to grow to nearly 48 million by the year 2020 and we need to have a newly trained workforce ready to meet the demands of this growth,” Pattinson said. “I will double my pledge to $100,000 if other real estate developers, planners and builders will step-up and make contributions to the SDSU Real Estate Program. It is vital that the largest and oldest university in San Diego have the tools necessary to educate the workforce of tomorrow.”

Now observing its 25th year of operations and with more than 17,000 homes to its credit, Barratt American is building fine communities across the full market spectrum in Southern California, from entry-level to multimillion-dollar estate homes.