Mark Lee Levine is ready to hand-off the administrative duties to someone else.
As earlier reported by InsideRealEstateNews.com, Levine, who holds law and accounting degrees, is voluntarily stepping down as the director of the Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management at the University of Denver, a post he has held since 1995.
“I am not really leaving Burns/DU,” Levine said in an interview. “Rather, I am stepping away from the administrative duties as director. That entails a lot of things, such as writing reports, which I have done for a lot of years. I am perfectly happy to pass that on to someone else. And I am happy to keep teaching. After all, that is why I came her in the first place. I’ve been here since 1975. And I will continue to hold the Mark Lee Levine Chair at the Burns school.”
Levine will also have more time to devote to one of his passions – international real estate. He is a frequent visitor, lecturer and consultant in China and the Middle East and has written a book on international real estate.
“I have undertaken three Fulbright grants and is part of the reason for the change,” Levine said. Most recently, as a Fulbright scholar, he lectured in Sharjah, the third largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates. “It’s kind of like what Aurora is to Denver,” he said. The other two Fulbrights took him to China. He doesn’t expect a fourth.
“You normally only get one and it is very rare to get two. It’s almost unheard of to get more than two – it just never happens – but I got three Fulbrights, anyway.”
Still, he plans other international trips. He will soon be going to Israel on business and he has a trip planned to China.
Levine also devotes a lot of time to writing real estate books.
“I have published over 50 books, when you include additions,” Levine said. “My goal is to more of my books available as e-books. It really troubles me that students at DU and on other college campuses pay so much for textbooks. That is true about my books. One of my textbooks on international real estate costs students more than $250. Soon, you will be able to download it for $9.99. So my book on international real estate or my tax books, ant others, will be available to anyone in the world for under $10. That is the way the world is going. Students should not have to pay $250 for a book.”
Despite such a long academic career, Levine is not ready to retire – or even slow down. He just wants to shift how he spends his time.
He challenges himself physically, as well as mentally.
“I figure as long as I am still playing basketball, I’m doing OK,” he said. “I’m still playing two or three times a week.”
Have a story idea or a real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate.
