Student Profile: Robert Zalkin

In retrospect, Robert Zalkin’s decision to pursue an M.S. in Construction Management at the Schack Institute seems inevitable.

A bachelor’s in business administration from Emory University prepared Zalkin for a position as an investment bank analyst where he acquired an understanding of capital markets that he would apply as an entrepreneur, branding and selling World Trade Center medallions and donating most of the proceeds to the United Way’s 9/11 Fund.

With the real estate market ascending, Zalkin joined a development company and worked on acquisitions, asset management, leasing, zoning, and other matters. Yet he wanted to run his own business again, this time in real estate. Then the credit crunch arrived and the market stalled.

“I heard of the NYU program through a friend who said it was incredible,” he recalls. “So instead of trying to go against the economic current, I submitted an application and just made the deadline.” After diversified responsibilities as a financial analyst, business founder, and real estate executive, Zalkin felt he wanted more exposure to the construction side of the business, and he found it in NYU’s graduate program in construction management. “I have the greatest professors, all of whom have industry experience,” Zalkin says. “It’s an excellent environment for learning about construction.”

At a Schack Institute Career Night last October, Zalkin introduced himself to one of the panelists, the president of a company upgrading an Upper East Side property from a three-star to a five-star hotel. Zalkin now has an internship with that company. “I was proactive about getting my foot in the door, and I got a good break,” he says. “I get to observe construction methods and technology in action. I’m seeing firsthand a lot of what we discussed in class, and that is supplementing my education at NYU.”

Zalkin hopes to earn his degree at the end of the fall 2009 semester. “The market is in the doldrums now, but I hope there will be an opportunity eventually to develop a project,” he says. “Overall, the program’s been great. It’s not broad and vague, but specific. And NYU has a great reputation.”