MS in Real Estate Faculty

Donn Dongshin Kim, PhD
MSRE Program Chair
Associate Professor of Finance and Real Estate

Dr. Kim's research focus is on commercial real estate, mortgages, housing economics, Fintech and real estate investment trusts. His research work has appeared in premier real estate journals, including Real Estate Economics, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, and Journal of Real Estate Research. Dr. Kim is also interested in technology. Leveraging on his experience as a software engineer, he released his model selection algorithm R language package and published a paper in the R Journal. Dr. Kim has taught various real estate and finance courses (Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Financial Modeling, Financial Modeling, and more) at the master level. Dr. Kim has over nine years of work experience in the industry.

Dr. Kim holds a PhD in Real Estate from Georgia State University, MS in Real Estate from Georgia State University, MS in Business Administration (Finance) from Seoul National University, and BA in Engineering from Seoul National University.

Heather Boren, MBA
Adjunct Professor of Finance
President/Broker, Estate Match Realty

Entrepreneurial business leader who excels at empathetically evaluating client’s needs, skillfully advising and educating, and energetically delivering impactful results.  Heather has closed and consulted on over $1 billion in real estate transactions and is currently the Principal and Founder of Estate Match Realty. Highly regarded for creative solutions and exceptional service, she ensures clients are able to dream big and achieve their business goals. 

As a lifelong learner, Heather’s mission is to educate the next generation of business owners, investors, and professionals. In addition to brokerage, she enjoys mentoring real estate professionals and teaches at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Heather is the 2024 Outstanding Faculty, Above and Beyond category & the 2023 PGBS Transformational Teaching Award recipient. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, and Bachelor’s in Political Science and Communication Studies from UCLA. 

Heather resides in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and husky. She enjoys figure skating, is a double gold medalist, and has won numerous showcase and artistic skating awards.

Jordan Drake, CPA MBA
Practitioner Instructor of Accounting

Jordan Drake, CPA MBA teaches accounting and finance at Pepperdine University's Graziadio Business School. He earned his MBA from the Graziadio and he holds BS in Accounting and International Business from Pepperdine University. Prior to pursuing academics full-time, Professor Drake worked in accounting and finance for over 10 years across a variety of industries.

He has held an active California CPA license since 2009 and is a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). He is serving on the board of directors for The Rogue Creatives Foundation, an organization that helps develop non-profits' storytelling.

Robert Lee, PhD, CPA, CMA
Associate Professor of Accounting
Director, Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence

Dr. Robert Lee is an associate professor of accounting and director for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. He earned his PhD in accounting from Drexel University, a master in accountancy degree from Villanova University and a bachelor of arts degree in economics and mathematics from the University of Michigan. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) and certified management accountant (CMA). He has worked for companies such as PwC, KPMG, Conversant, and currently provides consulting services to companies in the Los Angeles area.

Brian McGilvray
Practitioner Faculty of Business Law

Brian McGilvray currently teaches courses in leadership and ethics, business law, employment law, and human resources management at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School. McGilvray has spent nearly twenty-five years as a practicing attorney, specializing in the areas of business and corporate law, business planning and formation, and employment law. McGilvray earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, and his MBA degree and Bachelor of Science in Management degree from the Pepperdine University Graziadio Business School.

Abraham Park, JD, PhD
Professor of Finance

Dr. Abraham U. Park is associate professor of finance at the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Courses he has taught include Real Estate Investments & Finance and Corporate Finance at the MBA level. His current research is related to REITs and Corporate Real Estate. Dr. Park has over 12 years of experience in a variety of industries. They include law, a Silicon Valley technology start up venture, management consulting, hedge funds, and global real estate finance.

Dr. Park holds a PhD from University of Cambridge, M. Phil. from University of Cambridge, JD from U.C. Berkeley, MPP from Harvard University, and a BA from UC Berkeley.

Michael Cusumano, DBA
Managing Director of the Cusumano Real Estate Group

Dr. Michael Cusumano attended UCLA for his undergraduate studies where he graduated with a degree in Economics. He earned an MBA and a DBA at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School as well. He is the Managing Director of the Cusumano Real Estate Group,  has been actively involved in real estate development and investment for more than 40 years and has developed some of the most noteworthy projects across southern California. Recent development projects include the 476,000 square foot LEED Gold “Talaria at Burbank” which received the Pacific Coast Builders Conference Gold Nugget “Grand Award” for “Best Mixed-Use Project”. Dr. Cusumano’s area of research is sustainability within the real estate industry. He is a member of the American Real Estate Society and Lambda Alpha.

Gil Keinan, DBA
Adjunct Professor of Real Estate Investment
Managing Director, Local Equity LLC

Dr. Gil Keinan is a finance and development professional. He is the Managing Director of Local Equity, an economic development organization that creates commercial real estate and infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (P3). His background includes expertise in commercial real estate with known management and investment firms, providing leadership to over $2 billion in AUM, and over $1 billion in transaction volume.  

He received his DBA from Pepperdine University, MBA from the University of San Francisco, and BSc from the University of Surrey (United Kingdom).

Dr. Keinan serves on the boards of the Beverly Hills Conference and Tourism Bureau and the Orange County Small Business Development Corporation, and is a member of multiple trade organizations. He has lived in seven countries and speaks multiple languages.