TALLAHASSEE, Fla. C.F. Sirmans — a leading scholar in real estate finance and economics — has joined Florida State University's College of Business as its J. Harold and Barbara M. Chastain Eminent Scholar Chair in Real Estate.

"Sirmans is widely regarded as one of the nation's leading real estate economists," said Dean Gatzlaff, FSU's Mark C. Bane Professor and director of the Center for Real Estate Education & Research (www.fsurealestate.com). "The range of his scholarship is unparalleled. His productivity is off the board; it's incredible."

Sirmans has spent the past 17 years at the University of Connecticut as the William N. Kinnard Jr. Professor of Real Estate and Finance and director of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies. In addition, he serves as co-editor of the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics — one of the discipline's premier journals.

"His addition to FSU's real estate faculty raises our overall research rankings to top-tier status among the nation's universities and places us alongside programs located at such great institutions as (the University of California) Berkeley, Illinois and Wisconsin," Gatzlaff said.

Sirmans also has taught at the University of Illinois, the University of Georgia and Louisiana State University. His research interests include real estate securitization and spatio-temporal modeling of real estate prices.

A native of southern Georgia, Sirmans said FSU has had an outstanding real estate program for many years.

"I have been impressed with the commitment by the college and the program's alumni and friends to real estate education and research," Sirmans said. "With this continuing support, we can build the program into one of the nation's best. I am extremely pleased to be part of this process."

Sirmans begins his work at FSU in January 2009. He is currently serving as a visiting professor at Brigham Young University. Once at FSU, Sirmans will continue to produce research, teach undergraduate and MBA students, bolster the work of the real estate center and strengthen the relationships of the College of Business across other disciplines, including economics, law and planning.

Hiring Sirmans fulfills dreams for the Chastain Chair, which was originally established from a 1999 gift by J. Harold and Barbara Chastain. A 1955 graduate of the College of Business, J. Harold Chastain served as president of First Environmental Services, a division of First City Federal Savings and Loan Association of Bradenton. He also was chief real estate appraiser for that institution before becoming a private real estate investor.

For more information about the College of Business, please go to www.cob.fsu.edu.