UA’s ACRE Adds Three to Advisory Board of Trustees

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. —Three new members have been named to the advisory board of trustees of the Alabama Center for Real Estate at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce.

“Our advisory board of trustees is a vital part of ACRE,” said Grayson Glaze, ACRE’s executive director.  “The board members represent a vast wealth of knowledge of all facets of the real estate industry, and we are grateful that they are willing to share it with us and all of our constituents.”

The three new members are Tom Brander, a prominent real estate publisher; Cindy Lambert, account executive with Land Title Company of Alabama; and Sherri McCollum, a successful Realtor for the past 20 years.

Brander spent eight years with the Honeywell computer division in sales and tech support on the Metropolitan Life and Bell Labs accounts. He was with Citibank for 10 years with Citigroup in various locations, including two years in Sydney, Australia implementing the technology for Citibank’s entry into the Australian marketplace.

For another 10 years, he headed the information systems and communications groups for Compass Bank (now BBVA). He has also served as the chief financial officer for several Birmingham-based health care related companies.

His company, OSWCO, LLC (Open Software Company) is an authorized Google reseller. He has earned the Google apps sales consultant certification and the Google apps deployment certification, from Google. He produces The Rudulph/Brander Monthly Real Estate Report in the Birmingham, Huntsville and Baldwin County markets.

He also co-produces the ACRE quarterly Real Estate Sentiment Index and report in conjunction with ACRE. He is a designated ACRE Instructor and has served as a member of the ACRE Leadership Council since 2009.

Lambert has been active in the title insurance industry for 24 years. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors for Birmingham Commercial Real Estate Women. She is a member of the task force for ACRE’s annual commercial real estate conference and is a member of Dixie Land Title Association. She is a member of Homewood-Mountain Brook Kiwanis and served on the board of directors for 2010-2012.

She served as sponsorship chair for the ACRE Annual Commercial Conference in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She is a founding member of Birmingham CREW, as well as past president, president elect, delegate and program chair. She also served as Treasurer of Commercial Real Estate Sales Club for 2004, 2005 and 2006.

McCollum is the managing broker at First Realty, a RealtySouth company in Auburn. She has held many local offices at the Lee County Association of Realtors including, president in 2002; chair of grievance and education committees; governmental affairs; current member of finance and long range planning; current chair of professional standards committee; and current chair of MLS Committee.

She has been an education trustee with the Alabama Association of Realtors since 2010. She received the “Rookie of the Year” award in 1994, was Lee County Association of Realtors Realtor of the Year in 2000 and received the Lee County Association of Realtors Golden Key Award in 2009. She is also involved with the Auburn and Opelika Chambers of Commerce.

ACRE’s core purpose is to advance the profession of real estate in Alabama by providing relevant resources in the areas of research, education and outreach. The center, founded by the Alabama Association of REALTORS, the Alabama Real Estate Commission and the Office of the Dean in 1996, also acts as an industry liaison for the benefit of business school students pursuing a career in real estate.

The relationship between the center and its industry stakeholders is one of the center’s greatest strengths. Alabama companies and individuals partner with the center to enhance and enrich the center’s resources and make them available to the state’s real estate community.