Mark Eppli, former director of the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been named the 2025 Lauren and Robert Steers Chair in Real Estate. Mark comes to the Steers Center with a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge. Dr. Eppli will not only be teaching classes to our MBA students, but will also be helping the Steers Center leadership team to better position its Advisory Board and alumni network for continued growth and success in the future. 

Dr. Eppli, who stepped down from the director position in August, previously served as Interim James H. Keyes Dean of Business Administration from 2012 to 2015 and as a professor of finance and Bell Chair in Real Estate at Marquette University. He was instrumental in building the Center for Real Estate and the real estate program at Marquette that has enhanced the reputation of the business school not only regionally but also nationally.

Widely published in commercial real estate finance, development and valuation, his research has been published in dozens of top-respected real estate journals. Dr. Eppli is co-author of two books: Real Estate Development: Principles and Process and Valuing the New Urbanism, both published by the Urban Land Institute. He has been an independent board member for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago since 2012, and he is the immediate past president of the nonprofit Real Estate Research Institute. Dr. Eppli was named a “Distinguished Fellow” by NAIOP, a national commercial real estate organization, which recognizes him as a foremost real estate policy expert. He has also received awards from the Greater Washington Urban League and the Urban Land Institute for his efforts to attract minorities to the real estate profession.

Dr. Eppli earned his Ph.D., Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.