Adam Fumarola recently joined the Whitman faculty as a professor of real estate practice under the Department of Finance and executive director of the James D. Kuhn Real Estate Center. No stranger to Syracuse University or the Whitman School of Management, Fumarola served as senior associate vice president of real estate services and asset management for the University from 2017 to 2021, as well as adjunct instructor teaching real estate topics at the Whitman School and the Syracuse University College of Law.

After graduating from the University of Buffalo School of Law, Fumarola started his career as an attorney at K&L Gates and transitioned to assistant counsel at American Financial Realty Trust. In 2006, Fumarola moved back to Central New York to join Raymour & Flanigan Furniture and Mattresses as senior legal counsel, eventually becoming the senior director of real estate development. It was during this time that he started teaching real estate as an adjunct at the Whitman School.

In 2021, Fumarola saw an opportunity to start his own commercial real estate firm, Hanover Real Estate Development, where he continues to serve as partner today. When the opportunity to teach full time as a professor of practice and direct the Kuhn Center at the Whitman School came about, Fumarola was eager to leverage his experience in real estate to enhance the student experience at the University.

“As an adjunct, I’ve always been impressed by the quality and caliber of the students in my classes,” he says. “Whitman students are provided a strong academic understanding of business and finance, which translates exceptionally well into real estate finance. One of my goals is to add to their professional toolbelt by exposing students to the myriad disciplines that exist in the business of real estate, demonstrating how finance fits into the broader practice of real estate, and giving students the tools to succeed.”

“Whitman’s focus on entrepreneurship dovetails nicely with the commercial real estate field in as much as most practitioners in the field are entrepreneurs. Consider the roles of developer, architect, general contractor, broker, etc.—all of them entrepreneurial in some form or fashion,” Fumarola adds. “Because real estate is so tangibly impactful, from individual occupants/tenants in buildings to the neighborhoods and communities within which the building is located, a sound, thoughtful, and diligent real estate practice can serve as a catalyst for both doing good and doing well. There is a lot of potential to grow the program and give our students broader perspectives on their career opportunities and ultimately their choices.”

This fall, Fumarola will teach two sections of Real Estate Principles. He is located in the Kuhn Center, where he is working to develop student-focused spaces and programming, with an emphasis on mentorship, teamwork, leadership and skill development.

“I’m not sure I would have been interested in taking my career in this direction had I not already been familiar with the highly focused and dedicated student body at the Whitman School,” says Fumarola. “I deeply appreciate Whitman’s commitment to ensuring our students succeed in class and beyond, and I want to invest my time and expertise towards that goal.”

By Caroline K. Reff