Kaplan Institute Debuts Speaker Series to Bring Together Leaders in Business and Technology at Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, IL — March 21, 2019 —

The Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship today announced that it will host Real Estate Development – Deconstructed, an intimate conversation with business, civic, and technology leaders, on April 23, 2019, at Illinois Institute of Technology’s Mies Campus. Kaplan Institute Senior Director Barbara S. Pollack announced that the inaugural event, titled Can Large-Scale, Mixed-Use, High-Tech Developments Help Salvage, Reimagine and Save Our Cities: How Will New Technologies Impact The Way Buildings Get Built In the 21st Century?, is the first in a series of upcoming fireside chats and panel discussions hosted by the Kaplan Institute to provide a new forum for leaders in innovation to learn, share, and collaborate with their peers as well as Illinois Tech students, graduates and faculty.

The initial panel will feature David Reifman, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning and Development; Keating Crown, Managing Principal, Sterling Bay; Justin Brown, President, Skender; and Howard Tullman, Executive Director, Kaplan Institute. The curated series of lunch-hour conversations will be open to the public and free for Illinois Tech’s students.

“We know that breakthroughs in innovative thinking don’t happen in a vacuum,” said Howard Tullman, Executive Director of the Kaplan Institute. “This exciting new Speakers Series is designed to serve as a unique forum of ideas, in which next-generation leaders from the business, technology, and civic sectors can come together to share insights on how our city can grow together as an innovation ecosystem.”

The Series, developed by Kaplan Institute Senior Director Pollack, was created to encourage open and informal cross-disciplinary conversations concerning the future trends, concerns and considerations shaping our environments, communities, and cities. April’s event will mark the first group of prominent industry leaders expected to participate in the Series.

The Kaplan Institute opened at Illinois Tech in October 2018 with a mission of nurturing the advancement of critical and creative ideas, fostering interdisciplinary and external collaboration, and creating a culture that enables innovation and tech entrepreneurship to flourish on campus and throughout the Chicago community.

“Free and open conversations around the opportunities and challenges facing the real estate development industry like these are critical to our ability to innovate,” said Justin Brown, President, Skender. “We thank Howard, Barbara and the Kaplan Institute for bringing this diverse group together at Illinois Tech to try and tackle some of the most pressing and intriguing questions confronting the construction and real estate development sector.”

For more information about the Kaplan Institute Speaker Series, or to register for Real Estate Development – Deconstructed: Can Large-Scale, Mixed-Use, High-Tech Developments Help Salvage, Reimagine and Save Our Cities: How Will New Technologies Impact The Way Buildings Get Built In the 21st Century?, visit www.iit.edu/kaplan. The event is free to Illinois Tech students and $5 for the general public.

About Illinois Institute of Technology

Illinois Institute of Technology, also known as Illinois Tech, is a private, technology-focused research university. Illinois Tech is the only university of its kind in Chicago, and its Chicago location offers students access to the world-class resources of a great global metropolis. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law. One of 21 institutions that comprise the Association of Independent Technological Universities (AITU), Illinois Tech provides an exceptional education centered on active learning, and its graduates lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity. Illinois Tech uniquely prepares students to succeed in professions that require technological sophistication, an innovative mindset, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Visit www.iit.edu.