Student Profiles: Class of 2009

Alicia Board board@wisc.edu

After graduating from Florida A & M University in 2002 with a B.S. in Economics, Alicia entered JPMorgan Chase’s Credit Training Program. Upon completion, Alicia joined the Firm’s Not for Profit Group where she learned how to analyze not for profit entities and how to manage large client relationships. In 2005, she accepted a project management position with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Through this experience, Alicia developed knowledge of: subsidy sources used to finance affordable multifamily projects; selection criteria used by municipalities to award land and other incentives for development; strategies for achieving certain income tiers within a given project; and legal tactics for ensuring policy goals. She now plans to supplement this knowledge with training that she will receive through the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Real Estate MBA specialization and would like to pursue a career in development upon graduation.

Lee Christensen ljchristense@wisc.edu

Lee is in his first year of MBA studies at Wisconsin as a student in Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, and started his career at Butler Plaza LLC in Madison working in property management, real estate development, and construction management. Butler Plaza provided him the opportunity to work on multiple multifamily housing developments in downtown Madison, rehabilitate older homes, and manage the build-out of a fitness center, salon and spa. Lee hopes to incorporate his previous work experience and education in real estate to find a position in development, acquisitions, or asset management.

Eric Komppa ekomppa@wisc.edu

Eric is a first year MBA in the James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. He graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in finance, additionally earning a Real Estate Certificate. Eric started his career at Woodspear Properties as an Acquisitions Associate where he directed real estate portfolio acquisitions in Arizona, California, Colorado and Washington and advised on financing strategies for existing assets. In 2006 Eric joined Q10 Essex Financial Group as a Commercial Real Estate Analyst where he was responsible for quantitative analysis on various types of real estate loans for commercial real estate. During his short time at Essex he was the first analyst in company history to originate and successfully close a transaction and has underwritten approximately $1 billion of real estate assets. Mr. Komppa’s experiences have further energized him to continue his knowledge base of the industry and desires to one day make his mark in the development arena.

Daniel Philipp dpphilipp@wisc.edu

Daniel is a first year MBA in the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2000 with a Bachelors of Business Administration in Accounting and 2002 with a Master of Science in Management Information Systems. Prior to the MBA program, Daniel spent 1 year working for Arthur Andersen as an intern in the financial audit group. After Arthur Andersen, Daniel spent 2.5 years working at Ernst & Young in the Technology and Security Risk Services group leading audit teams in technology, security and Sarbanes Oxley audits. Then he spent 2.5 years working for Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company where he worked in the Audit department consulting on corporate large projects and assisted in redesigning the Enterprise Risk Assessment. Daniel hopes to apply his project management, financial and risk assessment skills in the field of real estate.

G. Todd Robie robie@wisc.edu

G. Todd Robie is an MBA student in the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. Prior to joining the program, he spent three years working on urban townhouse development with Sutton Builders and affiliated companies in Cleveland, Ohio. Working closely with company principals, Todd gained experience in every step of the development process, including initial concept and subdivision design, establishment of the financing structure, approvals and permitting, the construction phase, and marketing. He held significant responsibility for project financial operations and the approvals process during development. Before working with Sutton, Todd acquired leadership experience in the non-profit and academic settings. In the future, he hopes to deepen his experience in urban property development.Todd graduated from Yale University in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in History. He is a recipient of the Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship.

Matthew Wachter mrwachter@wisc.edu

Matt is studying to receive his MBA from the Graaskamp Center for Real Estate. Prior to the program, Matt earned his B.S. in Political Science and International Relations from the University of Wisconsin in 2004. Matt then spent four years working for Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin where he represented and spoke on the Congresswoman’s behalf at conferences and meetings with local government officials and business leaders. Matt acted as a liaison between Congresswoman and her 650,000 constituents on economic development, transportation, and environmental issues in the district. Through this work, Matt developed his interest in sustainable building, infill, and transit-oriented development. Matt hopes to combine his experience in the public sector with his MBA to work on these issues in real estate.