A new partnership between the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering and Applied Science, spurred by a gift, will have positive implications for the construction and real estate industries.


The gift of $285,000, from alumnus Dan Ivanoff and his wife Laurie, supports the creation of a construction management track within the MBA program in the Leeds School, as well as opens the door for graduate construction engineering and management students to take associated business classes. The new program is slated to begin in fall 2013.


“The Ivanoff gift creates a powerful collaboration and cross-campus partnership between Leeds and CU’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, providing MBA students a great way to specialize and engineering students a means for developing business know-how,” said Dean David L. Ikenberry of the Leeds School. “Bringing students together across disciplines creates a richer learning environment while meeting market demands.”


The gift provides support to the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and to the CU Real Estate Center to help bring the programs together.


“MBA students with a fundamental understanding of construction and design will be very attractive for businesses that concentrate on ground-up development,” said Dan Ivanoff. “Real-estate investment firms that hire a Leeds MBA with a concentration in real estate and construction management will get an individual with very specific capabilities and a specialization that is directly related to its business activities.”


Ivanoff leads a large real estate investment, development and management company based in Seattle with properties throughout the western United States.


“Dan Ivanoff was educated in both business and engineering at CU-Boulder and now he has given back so that future generations of students have the opportunity to receive an interdisciplinary education from two of the best programs in the nation,” said Dean Robert Davis of CU’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. “We are very grateful for the gift from Dan and Laurie and we look forward to additional joint opportunities between business and engineering.”


Part of the funding to engineering includes a faculty fellowship that was awarded to Assistant Professor Amy Javernick-Will. Her career path has included both education and industry experience in civil engineering and real estate development.