Assistant or Associate Research Professor, Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management

Daniels College of Business

DU is the oldest independent university in the Rocky Mountain region and is classified as an R1 Doctoral/Research University. U.S. News and Times Higher Education have consistently ranked DU among the nations top 100 universities while Princeton Review named DU as the university most loved by its students.

The Daniels College of Business is one of the largest colleges within the University offering a variety of majors and minors including nine bachelors degrees four MBA degree programs seven specialized masters programs and an Executive PhD program. Daniels was founded in 1908the eighth-oldest collegiate business program in the United States. It has held AACSB accreditation since 1923. U.S. News & World Report Bloomberg Businessweek Financial Times Forbes and Poets & Quants routinely recognize Daniels programs as among the best in the country. We transform lives organizations and communities through educational experiences outreach and knowledge creation.

The City of Denver is home to more than 40000 businesses and is a fertile environment for entrepreneurs and startups. It has abundant sunshine one of the countrys largest city park systems an impressive craft beer scene and ample access to outdoor activities. All of it is easily accessible from the DU campus. With over 300 days of sunshine a year the nations largest city park system and a thriving business community a Pew Research Study lists Denver as the #1 city in which people want to live.

Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management

The Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management is founded on the full life cycle of the built environment. Students are prepared to fill an increasingly important role as an integrated project leader and acquire a cohesive understanding of the built environment in addition to the specific educational discipline of their choice. The foundation of the Burns School is the integration of academic and scholarly real estate and construction management knowledge with issues of real-world application. The Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management offers a Master of Science in Real Estate and the Built Environment (REBE) and an undergraduate major in Real Estate and Construction Management in the Colleges Bachelor of Science in Business Administration program as well as minors with concentrations in Real Estate Finance and Investments Real Estate Development and Construction Management. The Burns School offers rigorous academic instruction enjoys strong industry support and has eight full-time faculty members. The Burns School is recognized as an innovative leader in Real Estate and Construction the context of housing access and affordability the School is working across the University of Denver to identify ambitious yet pragmatic solutions to todays most pressing housing challenges supported by rigorous action-oriented research.

Position Summary

The Housing Economist will be housed within the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management but will be working in partnership with other institutions and other units of the University of Denver including the Rocky Mountain Land Use Institute at the Sturm College of Law the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy and the Graduation School of Social Work to support the launch and growth of a new Housing Research Center and to advance an interdisciplinary research agenda designed to address barriers to housing access.

The Housing Economist to be hired as a Research Faculty (non-tenure track) and will lead and publish research focused on housing and housing policy. The research will include topics related to expanding the supply and affordability of housing through land use and zoning policies innovative financing tools and other policy interventions. The Housing Economist will collaborate closely with leaders and scholars from other units on campus as well as researchers from other institutions to identify new research opportunities develop research design and conceptual frameworks for understanding the links between policies and housing supply and produce evidence-driven research that can help to inform housing policy debates in Colorado and at the federal level. The Housing Economist will also be responsible for working closely with researchers from Terner Labs to develop and manage Housing Policy Simulators for Colorado and to use resulting models to conduct policy-relevant research and analyze the application of research to policy outcomes. The Housing Economist will be expected to represent DU at various forums conferences symposiums and events to present and share the research and white papers produced. Working under the supervision of the Director of the Burns School and in partnership with the RMLUI a Law and Policy Research Fellow (Fellow) data analysts and others the Housing Economist will be expected to undertake rigorous timely and practical research projects that focus in the areas of Housing Economics Real Estate Finance the impact of Immigration and Demographics on Local Economies and the interaction between Local Markets and Housing affordability.

This position is grant-funded. The term of the appointment and continuation is contingent on available funding.

Essential Functions

Research: The Housing Economist will be expected to publish research in the field of housing policy and real estate markets. This research will include the development and application of Terner Labs Housing Policy Simulator for communities in Colorado. The Housing Economist will have an opportunity to collaborate with scholarly active faculty across various departments and schools on research papers targeted at top tier housing real estate and economics journals.

• Collaboration: The Housing Economist will be expected to partner with researchers at the University of Denver Terner Labs and other institutions to support interdisciplinary housing research projects integrating policy analysis with economic and demographic data spatial analyses industry reports and other sources of information. The Housing Economist will also support communications and outreach that foster broader engagement with DUs housing work.
• Engagement: The Housing Economist would be expected to participate in events sponsored by the RMLUI Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management and the Scrivner Institute for Public Policy share their research in writing and through presentations contribute to the intellectual life of the University of Denver and advance beneficial policy solutions in collaboration with other interested stakeholders.

Secondary Functions

• Industry Presentations: The Housing Economist will become a subject matter expert and be prepared to present to large and small audiences.
• Teaching: The faculty will have opportunities to guest lecture in various programs across campus. Additionally there will be opportunities to teach in the Executive Certificate in Affordable Housing the Burns School of Real Estate and other units at DU at extra compensation at the DU adjunct rates.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities:

• Willingness to focus on Colorados housing market and develop as a subject matter expert.
• Ability to write and present for a wide variety of audiences ranging from local economic and real estate professionals to industry leaders and government officials.
• Experience with economic forecasting.
• High standard of excellence and research integrity; outstanding judgement dependability and professionalism.
• Able to perform independently and as part of a multidisciplinary collaborative team.
• Ability to mentor and supervise direct reports
• Ability to manage multiple simultaneous projects and deadlines.
• Strong organizational and project management skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office tools and aptitude for mastering supportive technologies including a commitment to manage operation of the Terner Housing Policy Simulator.
• Understanding of issues of equity and sustainability and their intersection with housing.
• Strong communication and leadership skills

Required Qualifications

• At least a Masters Degree but a Doctorate degree in economics is preferred with primary focus on housing and real estate markets
• Six years or more of progressively responsible applied research experience in housing economics delivering actionable research insights

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent analytical skills including knowledge of research design econometric analysis and best practices in summarizing and visualizing economic data in easy-to-understand ways.
• Working proficiency in econometric analytical software and/or GIS including coding skills and familiarity with tools like Python.
• Strong applied understanding of the macroeconomic and institutional drivers of housing markets including demographics household formation and composition employment and government regulations. Ability to synthesize these to explain housing market dynamics.

Work Schedule

While the Universitys administrative offices are open Monday Friday 8:00 am 4:30 pm faculty schedules vary from term to term and are based on courses taught service commitments and research agendas. The Universitys academic calendars are posted on the registrars website (the law school is on a semester system and has a different academic calendar).

Application Deadline

For consideration please submit your application materials by 11:59PM (MST) December 31 2025.

Salary Grade Number

The salary grade for the position is UC.

Salary Range

The salary range for this position is $150000-$180000

The University of Denver has provided a compensation range that represents its good faith estimate of what the University may pay for the position at the time of posting. The University may ultimately pay more or less than the posted compensation range. The salary offered to the selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as the qualifications of the selected candidate departmental budget availability internal salary equity considerations and available market information but not based on a candidates sex or any other protected status.

Benefits

The University of Denver offersexcellent benefits including medical dental retirement paid time off tuition benefit and ECO pass. The University of Denver is a private institution that empowers students who want to make a difference. Learn more about theUniversity of Denver.

Please include the following documents with your application:

1. Curriculum Vitae
2. Cover Letter
3. Industry Research/White Papers Published
4. Names and contact information of three individuals who can serve as references

The University of Denver is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex (including sex stereotypes sex characteristics sexual orientation gender identity and gender expression) marital family or parental status pregnancy or related conditions national origin disability or status as a protected veteran. The University of Denver does not discriminate and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color national origin ancestry age religion creed disability sex (including sex stereotypes sex characteristics sexual orientation gender identity and gender expression) marital family and parental status pregnancy genetic information military enlistment or veteran status and any other class of individuals protected from discrimination under federal state or local law regulation or ordinance in any of the Universitys educational programs and activities and in the employment (including application for employment) and admissions (including application for admission) context as required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972; the Americans with Disabilities Act; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; the Equal Pay Act; the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act; the Colorado Protecting Opportunities and Workers Rights (POWR) Act; and any other federal state and local laws regulations or ordinances that prohibit discrimination harassment and/or retaliation. For more information please see the University of DenversNonDiscriminationStatement.

All offers of employment are contingent upon satisfactory completion of a criminal history background check.