UA’s ACRE Adds to 2023 Board of Advisors

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE), one of the research and outreach arms of The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business, has added ten new members to its board of advisors. The board features members from across all aspects of real estate who maintain a shared goal of shaping the future of the industry through teaching, research, and service.

Justin Brown, the regional manager of Arlington Properties; Phee Friend, the governor’s local workforce areas board manager at the Alabama Department of Commerce; Robert Jolly, the chief executive officer at Retail Specialists; Jeffery Lees, the vice president of Fidelity National Financial; Stacia Robinson, the director of minority affairs at the Alabama Governor’s Office; Charles Stallworth, the director of student affairs at Miles College; Alan Tidwell, the chair of real estate at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business; Cole Walker, principal and board member of MindCoin Capital; Perry White, principal and chief operating officer with Johnson Healthcare Real Estate; and Stephanie Yates, the chairperson of the department of accounting and finance at the University of Alabama, Birmingham are the ten new members joining the board.

“We are grateful to have ten new members join the ACRE Board of Advisors in 2023,” ACRE’s executive director Grayson Glaze said.

“The board members’ vast knowledge and expertise are vital to our industry. We are lucky and thankful that they are willing to share some of it with us and our colleagues.”

Brown joined Arlington Properties in 2016 as an area manager in Birmingham. He was promoted to be the company’s regional manager in 2021 and has held that position since.

Friend has worked in the Alabama Department of Commerce for the last seven years, serving most of his tenure as the department’s planning and economic development specialist. He now serves as the workforce development manager, a role he’s held since 2021.

Jolly has spent the last 13 years at Retail Strategies and was named the 2020 “CEO of the Year” by the Birmingham Business Journal.

Lees has served as the area counsel for Fidelity National Financial for the past five years and is also the company’s vice president.

Robinson has been the director of minority affairs at Alabama’s Governor’s Office since January of this year, focusing on issues that directly affect women and minorities in the Yellowhammer state.

Stallworth has served as the vice president of student affairs and the dean of students at Miles College for the last three years.

Tidwell has spent the past five years as the associate professor at The University of Alabama and is the Alabama Association of Realtors chair of real estate for the Culverhouse College of Business where he administers the nation’s largest real estate program.

Walker is a board member at MindCoin Capital after a 15-year career as an investor in Alabama.

White has served as Johnson’s principal and chief operating officer for more than 16 years with a specialty in healthcare strategic and financial planning.

Yates has spent the last 15 years as a professor of finance at Collat School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was named the chairperson of Collat’s Department of Accounting and Finance in 2021.

About ACRE

The Alabama Center for Real Estate (ACRE) is housed within The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business. ACRE’s vision is to be a valued resource that supports Alabama’s real estate industry and promotes economic and workforce development. The Center is organized to provide relevant resources in the areas of teaching, research, and service.

Since its founding in 1996, the heart of ACRE is advancing relationships by providing servant leadership with a passionate, adaptable, and humble spirit. The relationship between ACRE and industry stakeholders is one of the center’s greatest strengths. Stakeholders partner with the center to enhance and enrich the center’s resources shared within the state’s real estate community.

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If you would like more information, please contact James Benedetto at 205.348.6080 or email at jdbenedetto@ua.edu.

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