The Real Estate Center at DePaul University, in collaboration with Preservation Compact, has appointed James D. Shilling to director of the Institute for Housing Studies and Marti Wiles Deuter to director of the Rental Housing Data Clearinghouse, one of the institute’s programs.

Shilling, 54, of Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood, will continue as the Michael J. Horne Chair in Real Estate Studies at DePaul while assuming this new leadership role. Deuter, 36, of Elmhurst, joins DePaul from the City of Chicago Department of Housing (now the Department of Community Development), where she was assistant commissioner.

"The combination of renowned scholar Jim Shilling directing the overall efforts of the institute, coupled with the strong local housing background of Marti Deuter, who will direct the data gathering and dissemination efforts of the clearinghouse, means that we can expect superb research and analytical work from the institute," said Susanne Cannon, the Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Director of the Real Estate Center.

The Institute for Housing Studies is part of Preservation Compact, a multifaceted initiative to preserve Chicago-area affordable rental housing, which was launched by the Urban Land Institute/Chicago and a coalition institutions, including DePaul, with funding from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in May 2007. Located on DePaul’s Loop Campus, the institute oversees two Preservation Compact programs: the Data Clearinghouse and Interagency Council. The clearinghouse, which Deuter will lead, collects and disseminates housing data from federal, county, city and other sources for use by researchers and policy-makers to preserve affordable rental housing. The Interagency Council, led by Stacie Young, improves strategy coordination and information flow among governmental agencies dedicated to saving this housing.

Shilling, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on real estate economics, finance and investment, joined DePaul’s College of Commerce faculty to teach and conduct research in 2006. He came to DePaul from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was the James A. Graaskamp Chair of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. A prolific scholar, he has produced more than 80 journal articles, studies, books and book chapters. His research examines real estate investment trusts, mortgage securitization, commercial mortgage defaults, real estate asset pricing, housing finance and urban economics. Shilling holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Otterbein College and master’s and doctoral degrees in economics from Purdue University.

Deuter, in her prior position with the city’s housing agency, directed the department’s policy agendas and tax-exempt homebuyer products. She also managed the creation of the Chicago Community Land Trust and the department’s senior and five-year affordable housing plans. She previously served as a research associate at the Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that promotes community reinvestment and economic development. Deuter graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio University and received a master’s degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.