Marquette University has named Dr. Anthony Pennington-Cross, a professor of finance in the university’s real estate program, as its next Robert B. Bell, Sr., Chair in Real Estate at the College of Business Administration.
Pennington-Cross, who has been with Marquette for nearly 12 years, succeeds Dr. Mark Eppli, who left Marquette in June to take a faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Eppli was named the inaugural Bell Chair at Marquette in 2002.
As Bell Chair, Pennington-Cross will be the academic lead for Marquette’s real estate program and Center for Real Estate in the College of Business Administration. He will work alongside center director Andy Hunt to guide the real estate curriculum and teaching and conduct research.
Marquette officials conducted a national search for the Bell Chair and ultimately brought in three candidates.
“It was clear that he was the right person to hold this prestigious position,” said Dr. Brian Till, Keyes Dean of Business Administration.
While at Marquette, Pennington-Cross has developed and taught the program’s foundational Introduction to Real Estate course. He later served as chair of the finance department, during which he helped establish a new commercial banking program.
He’s also an award-winning researcher, published in various academic journals including The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Urban Economics and Real Estate Economics. His recent research has focused on subprime lending in the housing market, house price dynamics, commercial property fundamentals, and other and urban and real estate issues.
Before joining Marquette, Pennington-Cross was a senior economist in the research division at The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He was also formerly a senior economist at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight in the Office of Policy and Research and the director of research at the Research Institute for Housing America.
“I am excited and honored to serve as the next Bell Chair in Real Estate — I am looking forward to working with the Center for Real Estate advisory board, Andy Hunt, and our excellent faculty and staff,” Pennington-Cross said. “The real estate program has a bright future, as Andy and I work together to expand the program and increase our community engagement, while keeping our focus on the students and making sure they have a deep learning experience that leads to fulfilling and successful lives and careers.”
