The ICMA Centre and the University of Reading are delighted to welcome Professor Sotiris Tsolacos who joins the Henley Business School as Professor of Real Estate Finance. Professor Tsolacos joins us from Property & Portfolio Research, the world's largest independent real estate research consultancy, with its headquarters in Boston.

Dr Tsolacos served the company as the Director of European Research for seven years, where he was responsible for delivering the company's research and portfolio strategy services to investors in Europe. He has many years of experience in strategic investment research and risk assessment. He has worked closely with investment managers, funds and lenders to assess risk and formulate the real estate portfolio strategy.

An alumnus of this University, Dr Tsolacos also held visiting positions and delivered modules in a number of academic institutions including Reading. The focal point of his recent academic publications is forecasting and false market pricing.

He is a regular commentator on these and other topical themes, a frequent speaker at major industry events, and contributor to practitioner magazines. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Property Research and the Journal of Property Investment and Finance and is a past president of theEuropean Real Estate Society. Dr Tsolacos is also a fellow of the European Area Business Cycle Networkand the Homer Hoyt Institute in the US. He is the co-author of the book Real Estate Modelling and Forecasting, published by Cambridge University Press.

Dr Tsolacos said of his appointment, "I have many fond memories of this institution where I did my higher degrees and lectured. After fourteen years, I am returning to take part in the training of the real estate financiers of the future and to carry out research in such a collegiate research environment.

"I am looking forward to working again with my old friends and I am excited about the School's prospects for strengthening its long-standing relationships with the industry. A lot went wrong in the markets during the recent cycle, highlighting a deficit of actionable quality research and presenting a challenge to academic institutions. I am therefore keen to team up with the School's faculty to produce topical, theme-driven research that will prove its impact."