Nicholas Retsinas, director emeritus of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies and senior lecturer in real estate at Harvard Business School, has been elected chairman of the board of the Community Development Trust (CDT), the country’s first and largest private real estate investment trust (REIT) which provides capital for the preservation of affordable housing. A CDT board member since the company was founded in 1998, he previously served as assistant secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 2012, Retsinas was named to the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Housing Commission where he co-chairs the Mortgage Finance Reform Working Group. In addition, as MHProNews.com has learned from multihousingnews.com, Retsinas is on the board of directors of Freddie Mac and the Center for Responsible Lending, chairs the Providence Housing Authority and is past chair of Habitat for Humanity International.
Distinctions include the Housing Leadership Award from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Bloomberg Businessweek’s 50 Most Powerful People in Real Estate list, the Excellence in Public Service Award from the Rental Housing Association, and Induction into the Affordable Housing Hall of Fame.
