FivePoint’s Emile Haddad named chairman of USC Lusk Center

Emile Haddad, CEO of FivePoint Holdings, has been named chairman of USC’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. Bill Witte, the CEO of Related California, has been named vice-chair.

The appointments come as the longtime head of the center, Chairman Stan Ross, announces his retirement. Ross has headed Lusk since 1999, when he stepped down as vice chairman of E&Y Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group.

Both Haddad and Witte previously served on Lusk’s advisory board and will begin their new roles July 1.

Haddad, who recently completed a term as chairman of the board of trustees at UC Irvine, said his goal is to help the center take on a greater role in addressing the industry’s most pressing issues, such as the turmoil currently facing the retail industry.

“I think the world is going through a major transformation,” Haddad told TRD. “I want to be involved in an institution like Lusk to have the resources and research to start digging deep and finding the answers.”