Stirling Properties’ Maurin and Ogden start $100,000 Tulane scholarship program

Jimmy Maurin and Roger Ogden, co-founders of Stirling Properties, have underwritten the Maurin Ogden Tulane Real Estate Fund through the ICSC Foundation. The fund will provide scholarships for graduate students pursuing real estate or related degrees in Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, the School of Architecture or the pair’s new partnership, a combined Master of Business Administration/Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development degree program.

For each of the next 10 years, one student will receive a $5,000 scholarship for tuition and related expenses, as well as an ICSC Student Membership and participation in the ICSC Foundation Mentorship Program, which pairs students with industry professionals and provides career guidance, relationship-building opportunities and exposure to the industry outside the classroom. Another five students each will receive all-expense-paid attendance to ICSC RECon, offering them exposure to industry leaders and potential employers.

The fund expects to announce the first recipients, selected by Tulane, in the fall. The $100,000 gift is part of a larger, $250,000 gift through the ICSC Foundation, which can employ the remaining $150,000 as it sees fit, Maurin said.

Maurin and Ogden established a similar scholarship program with the ICSC Foundation in 2014 at Louisiana State University. Maurin earned a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from LSU and an MBA from Tulane, and Ogden earned a bachelor of science degree in business from LSU and a juris doctorate from Tulane.

About the Tulane scholarship, Maurin, who also is a past chairman of ICSC and a current member of the ICSC Foundation board, said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for us to invest in the future of our industry, while also supporting our local communities. We are thankful for ICSC’s partnership in helping us to expand this program to Tulane University students and build awareness for real estate among young people entering the job market. Our goal is to attract and develop the best and brightest talent pool for the commercial real estate industry — the next generation of leaders in our businesses.”

ICSC Foundation president Lauri Novick said, “With the uncertainties and challenges facing the industry, it’s more important than ever that we accelerate our efforts to build the next generation of talent, and the new partnership with Tulane does just that.” By September, she said, the ICSC Foundation’s scholarship program will have awarded almost $360,000 for the 2020-21 academic year.