15 Things You Need to Know This Morning

Title: Director, MS in Real Estate Development, George Mason University.
Photo: Visiting Petra (from Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade) in Jordan.
On the job: Since June.
University: Virginia’s largest public research university with 34,000 students. MS in Real Estate Development program based at Arlington campus. 
Memorable project: Part of State Department team tasked with high-profile relocation of US Embassy in London, including sale of existing historic embassy and buying and developing land in downtown London for new embassy. Total project cost of almost $1B and funded from sales of diplomatic properties in UK.
CRE career: Parents owned rental properties while growing up and passive income seemed like a good idea. 
Grew up: Overseas (Dad worked for an oil company). 
Current home: Falls Church.
Why DC: To flee midwest after undergrad degree.
Schools: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Johns Hopkins University and University of Cambridge (PhD). 
First job: Commercial broker, Grubb & Ellis in DC.
Job in another life: French wine buyer.
Favorite apps: Instagram and Twitter. 
Favorite restaurant: Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca, Morocco. (“Yes, there’s a piano and yes, they’ll play As Time Goes By.”)
Countries visited: 42.
Guilty pleasure: Champagne (no guilt).
Bucket list: Restore a vintage sports car.
Charitable work: Mentor a teen through Casa Chirilagua, a nonprofit that helps at-risk kids. 
Most famous person met: Future King of England, Prince Charles. (Introduced at a reception.)
Family: Married three years; ongoing debate over a dog.
Hobbies: Putting finishing touches on first book–an adventure fiction about an abduction gone wrong. 
Startling fact: Personally handled original Declaration of Independence–the one sent to the UK.