Jeff Organisciak from Columbia Business School, New York, N.Y., and Matthew Legge from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., have been awarded the Charles Grossman Graduate Scholarship for 2012 by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Foundation. The scholarships were presented on May 21, during ICSC's RECon, the global retail real estate convention.
The Charles Grossman Graduate Scholarship is named in honor of the late Charles Grossman who served as the Foundation's chairman from 2006-2007 and was very instrumental in taking the foundation in its current direction. The award provides each recipient with a $10,000 academic scholarship. Additionally, the award will also afford these students with the opportunity to attend RECon. The scholarships are available to graduate students, who are also ICSC members that indicate a preference for a career in retail real estate.
"The ICSC Foundation recognized that attending RECon is an invaluable experience that will expose students to unmatched networking opportunities as well as current industry innovations," said Kieran Quinn, ICSC Foundation chairman and managing partner of Guggenheim Partners. "This benefit optimizes the award, giving future industry leaders first hand exposure and the ability to learn about current challenges and prepare for future opportunities," Quinn said.
Organisciak earned his BA at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Penn., and then went on to obtain an MBA at Columbia Business School. He began his career in the real estate industry as real estate finance legal analyst at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. Organisciak views real estate as a physical expression of human needs, experience and dreams. His ultimate goal in the industry is to start his own firm and redevelop mixed-use properties in urban areas. Today he continues to strengthen and perpetuate his knowledge of the industry as real estate asset/portfolio management officer at Clarion Partners in New York.

After receiving his BA at the University of Manitoba, Legge went on to earn his masters in Real Estate at Cornell University. Legge then started his career with a position in commercial leasing and real estate development at Shindico in Winnipeg, Canada. His ultimate career goal is to become a leader of a real estate organization that invests in and develops transformative shopping center properties throughout North America and abroad, and that effectively utilizes the talents of the various participants in the real estate industry. As an active member of ICSC, Legge recently earned his Certified Leasing Specialist (CLS) designation, and expresses a driven and enthusiastic attitude about his future contributions to the industry. Working as an investment officer, Legge is currently an employee of Bridgemer Investment Properties in Zurich, Switzerland.