Real Estate Professional Changes Course and Finds True Happiness as an SDSU Professor

When Anurag Mehrotra completed his MBA at Case Western Reserve University in 1999, he was torn between two options.

“I wanted to pursue becoming an academic by earning my Ph.D.,” said Mehrotra, a native of Mumbai, India. “However, my professors and friends advised me to join the banking industry as it was more lucrative.”

His friends and professors won out, and Mehrotra spent the next nine years with KeyBank as a lender in their real estate capital division. In 2008, an opportunity in his home country presented itself and he accepted a position as chief investment officer of a real estate private equity fund near New Delhi.

Despite a successful professional career and living near extended family, Mehrotra still felt a longing to earn a Ph.D. and become a finance professor.

“I was contemplating my future and was wondering how I could make a positive impact in society,” said Mehrotra, now an assistant finance professor at the Fowler College of Business. “I realized I would be truly happy by sharing my knowledge and experience in real estate investment with the next generation and pursuing research that has practical implications for the real world.”

Feeling confident in his industry experience and understanding of real estate finance, Mehrotra moved himself and his family back to the U.S. in 2013 — this time to Athens, Georgia to enroll as a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia’s highly-ranked real estate program.

Mehrotra completed his degree program in 2019 and started his career as an academic at SDSU the same year. He currently teaches Real Estate Principles (FIN 331) to undergraduates.

“I wanted to work at an institution that valued both research and teaching,” said Mehrotra, now in his sixth year as a faculty member at Fowler. “SDSU exemplifies both concepts in spirit and in practice.”

Mehrotra said that “teaching and making a difference in the lives of his students” has been the best part of his job. He prefers to use real-world examples from his extensive experience in real estate finance to help students understand the practical applications of the theoretical concepts he researches. 

After having worked as both an industry professional and a university professor, Mehrotra feels he has finally come into his own as an academic. He has found true fulfillment in his role as a real estate teacher and researcher, saying “I couldn’t think of a more noble and satisfying endeavor than that of a full-time academic.”