The Connecticut/Western Massachusetts Chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors (SIOR) awarded scholarships for the 2009/2010 academic year to University of Connecticut students.
$10,500 was awarded to five students in the fall of 2009, and $12,990 was awarded to six deserving University of Connecticut students in spring 2010. The scholarships are funded from the Chapter sponsored Sam Pierson and Carl Traub Scholarships, with matching funds provided by the SIOR Foundation.
The students are all real estate majors and all are on the Dean's List at the University of Connecticut's School of Business. Scholarship award recipients for both the fall 2009 and spring 2010 were John DesRoschers, Mark Gaudette, Benjamin Hochran, and Jessica Pollack. James Lerro received a fall 2009 scholarship, and spring 2010 scholarships were awarded to John Samela and Austin Gerentine.
John DesRoschers is a junior finance major with a real estate concentration. He is a member of the University of Connecticut Real Estate Society, presently serving as its president/COO, and is also a Special Olympics volunteer.
A junior majoring in real estate/urban economics, Mark Gaudette works at The UCONN Real Estate Center as a research analyst. He is also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity, serving on the Academic Scholarship Committee helping to guide members of the fraternity to achieve academic success.
Benjamin Hochran is a junior majoring in real estate finance and urban economics, with a minor in geography. He is an active University of Connecticut Real Estate Society member. He is also a community outreach volunteer in Storrs, and holds a private pilot license.
A senior majoring in real estate and urban economics with a political science minor, James Lerro has also been awarded the William N. Kinnard, Jr. / CREUS Scholarship. Lerro is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity where he serves as pledge educator and director of philanthropy.
Jessica Pollack is a senior majoring in real estate and urban economics with a minor in psychology. She is currently serving as CFO of the University of Connecticut Real Estate Society and she is an active member and pledge class president of Delta Sigma Pi - a professional business fraternity.
A junior majoring in economics with a concentration in real estate and urban economics, John Samela, is a senator in the UCONN Undergraduate Student Government and a member of The Real Estate Society, as well as, the UCONN College Democrats. Samela also studied abroad in London, England during fall 2009 working for the Waterloo Economic Development Group.
Austin Gerentine is a senior majoring in finance with a concentration in real estate and urban economics. He served as a manager of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team as a freshman and sophomore; he is member of the UCONN Real Estate Society, and serves as philanthropy chair and assistant pledge master of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
The Connecticut/Western Massachusetts SIOR Chapter has two scholarship funds: The first is in honor of Samuel Pierson, a long-time member and past national president of the society, and the other in memory of Carl Traub, another long-time chapter member who had a significant positive impact on the commercial real estate industry. The Chapter's scholarships are supported with matching funds from the SIOR Foundation (SIORF).