The Graaskamp Award

PREA’s biennial James A. Graaskaamp award was presented to Raymond G. Torto and William C. Wheaton at this year’s fall conference on September 26th in Beverly Hills, CA. Their body of work embodies the very spirit of the Graaskamp Award which is given to recognize those persons who contribute to the common body of knowledge some practical insights gained through significant research. Ray Torto has dedicated his extensive education and experience to making significant advances in real estate intelligence and research. He has contributed successfully to research development and information transparency in commercial real estate. Dr. Wheaton has been active in applying economic research to the real estate industry and was the first economist to apply economic methods to the forecasting of commercial real estate markets. Together this partnership between two university professors helped shape the quality and flow of information now available to commercial real estate investors.

About the Award

The award is named in memory of the late Dr. James A. Graaskamp, one of the greatest researchers of our time, a distinguished professor of real estate at the University of Wisconsin, and a champion of research of immediate use to investment decision makers.

The purpose of the award is to recognize those persons who contribute to the common body of knowledge some practical insights gained through significant research. Practical research yields results that are immediately useful to real estate decision makers and are developed by researchers who are in touch with the problems facing the industry and have used their unique research skills to define the problem, properly design the research methodology, gather the data, analyze, test and interpret the results in a scientific manner, and then communicate these results in an understandable form to the decision maker.

PREA's Board of Directors has recently reviewed the formal award process and has instituted changes that will not only improve the overall process but also draw upon the expertise of past award recipients.

The process is as follows:

1. Names of potential recipients will be solicited from the full PREA membership. Nominees should be recognized for career accomplishments, not just by recent work. Prior winners are not eligible to receive the award.
2. A team of former Graaskamp recipients will select a slate of finalists by evaluating research accomplishments. This panel may also add nominees to the slate to acknowledge significant but less visible contributions.
3. The PREA voting members will vote on the slate, with a summary of all nominees' accomplishments included with the ballot.
4. The top vote getter will receive the award, which will be presented at the Annual Plan Sponsor Real Estate Conference. The award is given on a biennial basis, with a scholarship of $10,000 presented to the academic institution of the receipient's choice. The next Graaskamp Award will be presented in 2005.

The first award was presented at the First Annual PREA Plan Sponsor Conference held in November 1990 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, California.