MS in Real Estate Faculty

Dongshin Kim
MSRE Program Chair
Assistant Professor of Finance and Real Estate
Interim Department Chair, Accounting, Finance & Real Estate

Dongshin Kim earned a BS in Engineering and an MS in Finance from Seoul National University. He also received an MS and a PhD in Real Estate from Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. Dr. Kim's research focus is in the areas of commercial real estate, mortgages, real estate investment trusts and housing economics. His research work has appeared in premier real estate journals including Real Estate Economics and Journal of Real Estate Research. His research have been presented at American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and the American Real Estate Society. He is a member of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association and the American Real Estate Society.

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

Heather Boren first joined Pepperdine Graziadio Business School in 2017 and is currently full-time Faculty of Finance and Real Estate, and the President of Estate Match Realty, a commercial real estate brokerage company. At Pepperdine Graziadio, she is an integral member of the real estate committee which oversees the MS in Real Estate program. With an attentive nature and collaborative approach, she is uniquely suited to focus on combining business with education having closed and consulted on over $1 billion in real estate transactions.

As a lifelong learner, Heather’s mission is to educate the next generation of business owners, investors, and professionals. She holds an MBA from Pepperdine University, and Bachelor’s in Political Science and Communication Studies from UCLA. Additionally, Heather still finds time to take her two rescue huskies on hikes with her husband around Los Angeles and make it to the ice rink where you will find her either figure skating or cheering on the LA Kings.

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.

Clemens Kownatzki, PhD
Assistant Professor of Finance
Department Chair of Accounting‚ Finance‚ and Real Estate

Clemens Kownatzki has been an executive in the financial services industry for well over two decades.  His experience ranges from management positions in brokerage and treasury operations to advising corporate as well as retail clients with a focus on managing their risk effectively.  In 2010, he joined Pepperdine University and is currently Assistant Professor of Finance. In 2022, he was appointed Associate Dean of Full-time Programs.  Before that, he was the Department Chair of Accounting, Finance and Real Estate. From 2017 to 2019, he was the Academic Director of the MS Applied Finance Program. 

Dr. Kownatzki’s research focuses on options, derivatives and the pricing and trading of volatility and risk.  In 2016, he received a prestigious research grant from the Chicago Mercantile Group Foundation. In 2021, he and his colleagues Augus Harjoto, Jillian Alderman and Robert Lee won the S&P Global Academic ESG Research Award and in 2022, he was Winner of the John Nicks Memorial Service Award. He also authored the book Money Music 101, which is the foundation for a personal finance class at LA College of Music. Dr. Kownatzki earned his PhD in Economics and Management from Claremont Graduate University. He also holds an MBA degree from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. 

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.

Abraham Park, PhD
Associate Professor of Finance
Associate Dean of Full-Time Programs

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.

H. Joseph Soleiman, Esq.
Adjunct Professor of Law
Principal, Vivo Investments, LLC

Joseph Soleiman is an adjunct professor in the MSRE program at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, focusing on legal issues within real estate. Mr. Soleiman has more than two decades of real-estate focused legal and business experience including property acquisitions, equity and debt raises, property development, and repositioning of real estate/companies and their assets. Mr. Soleiman currently serves as a Principal of The AlphaGen Group of Companies a vertically integrated real estate investment firm, and a Partner at Vivo Living Investment Group, focusing nationally on adaptive reuse of hospitality assets to multi- family.

Mr. Soleiman holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law, and a Business-Economics degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Soleiman currently serves as a Principal of The AlphaGen Group of Companies, a vertically integrated real estate investment firm, and a Partner at Vivo Living Investment Group, focusing nationally on adaptive reuse of hospitality assets to multi- family.

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

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
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 Neighborhood Housing Services of Inland Empire 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.