Ward Fitzgerald, the CEO and founder of ExCorde Capital, a private equity firm, will deliver the university’s tenth annual Abessinio Lecture on Management and Entrepreneurship on November 11 at 11:30 a.m. in the Meagher Theatre.
His presentation is open to the campus community and the public.
With decades of experience in real estate debt and equity markets, Fitzgerald has forged a reputation for innovation and strategic vision.
In 2006, he founded Exeter Property Group, growing it into one of the world’s largest real estate investment firms. Under his leadership, Exeter managed over $30 billion in equity commitments, partnering with institutional investors from more than 25 countries.
Operating in 53 cities globally, Exeter delivered industry-leading returns before its acquisition in 2021 for nearly $2 billion.
Prior to Exeter, Fitzgerald was a senior executive at Rouse/Liberty Property Trust, a $7 billion publicly traded real estate investment trust. He led the company’s IPO in 1994, establishing Liberty as a prominent player in real estate.
Fitzgerald is deeply committed to philanthropy. He serves as President of the Board of Trustees for The Papal Foundation and sits on the Board of The National Centre for Padre Pio and the Catholic Leadership Institute. He is also a Trustee for The Catholic University of America’s Board and chairs the Institute of Real Estate at the University of Notre Dame.
He supports Jefferson University Hospital’s Neurology Institute, Project HOME, its Inn of Amazing Mercy -- aiding Philadelphia’s homeless and those affected by addiction -- and World Villages, a leader in third world countries combating child sexual abuse and trafficking.
Fitzgerald holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Kathy, are proud parents of three children pursuing impactful careers in mental health, real estate, and private equity.
The Rocco and Mary Abessinio School of Business Chair in Management and Entrepreneurship Endowed Fund is the center of entrepreneurship education, activities, and programming for Neumann’s School of Business and across campus. The annual lecture series is one of the outcomes of this endowed fund. Rocco Abessinio visited campus on October 4, 2016, to deliver the first presentation in this series.
Mr. Abessinio, an alumnus and longtime friend of Neumann, is chief executive officer of Roch Capital, Inc., a privately-owned capital management firm focused on making investments in quality assets that will be he held for the long term. He is also the founder of Applied Bank and Applied Card System which grew to be the 10th largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards in the country.