VCU news

By Leila Ugincius

The way Sam Kornblau told it, his relationship with Virginia Commonwealth University started in the mid-1990s when some associates established the Sam Kornblau Endowed Scholarship at the VCU School of Business in his name.

“After that, on a regular basis, I received letters from recipients of those [scholarships] telling me how they loved this school, telling me what they were going to do, and it made a great, great impression on me,” he said last year.

So much of an impression that in 2006 Kornblau donated $2.5 million to the School of Business to establish The Kornblau Institute, which focuses on research related to commercial and residential real estate. Since then, the Kornblau family and VCU Business have been interlinked in a way that puts Richmond on the map as a real estate powerhouse.

“When the Kornblau family first established the Kornblau Institute, we knew we had something special,” said David Downs, Ph.D., professor, Alfred L. Blake Endowed Chair and director of The Kornblau Institute in the Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate. “I think, in part, the shared vision between the Kornblaus and Virginia Commonwealth University is to have a world-class real estate program both at the undergraduate level and the graduate level. We are putting the right pieces in place. It means a great deal to the faculty that when we travel abroad we get to say that we are representing the Kornblau Real Estate Program. Other schools sit up and take note.”

Kornblau died last month at the age of 91, but his legacy at VCU will last for generations.

“All of us who love Richmond love Sam Kornblau and his remarkable family,” said VCU President Michael Rao. “I am honored that Sam and his family have been key supporters of Virginia Commonwealth University, our School of Business and our VCU Kornblau Real Estate Program for many years. Their remarkable support includes scholarship, endowed professorship, a research institute and much more.

“Sam was the patriarch of a wise and inspiring family that has made a difference in the lives of thousands of people today and for generations to come. All of us at VCU thank Sam for his support, legacy and the difference he and his family have made for so many people, including at this university. They have empowered generations of leaders for the entire Richmond region and beyond. Sam will be missed, but we are grateful that his legacy endures in so many of us.”

In October, Kornblau donated an additional $1 million to the school to name the Kornblau Real Estate Program. While the generosity is unequivocal, the gift is also an investment in the community. The relationship between the Kornblaus and VCU is a two-way street, as many family members — two of whom are VCU alumni — are quick to note.

“I just think that [the VCU real estate program] is bringing added talent to the table and the employment base in Richmond,” said Chelsea Kornblau, Sam’s granddaughter and associate of Markel|Eagle, one of the five companies under the family’s Eagle Companies umbrella. “Having that base of students in Richmond is a huge asset to the real estate community.”

To a large degree, real estate is an untapped educational field. Adding to VCU’s clout, said Chelsea, are its professors and students.

“I don’t have enough nice things to say about [the faculty],” she said. Anything you’re interested in, they want to help you with. … They’re amazing; their research is important, and the students are so enthusiastic about the subject matter that it makes it well worth it.”

Robert Taylor, director of the Virginia Real Estate Center at VCU, is one example of the dedicated faculty in the real estate program. The impact he had on student Kaitie Comstock was life changing.

Comstock was on the pre-med track — following in her own grandfather’s footsteps — for her first three years at VCU. Her grandfather had always advised her to have interests outside of medicine, so she took Taylor’s Principles of Real Estate class as an elective.

“On the first day of his class, he not only convinced me that I wanted to be in the real estate school, but I also signed up that day and paid my dues for Rho Epsilon [the national professional real estate fraternity],” Comstock said, adding that Taylor was the first professor she had that kept the material new and fresh throughout the whole class.

Comstock ended up interning with the Kornblaus’ Eagle Construction of Virginia — something else for which she credits Taylor — and has worked for them ever since. Taylor always advises his students to hand-write thank you notes, a little detail that makes a big impression. After interviewing for the internship with Jeffrey Kornblau, COO and vice president of Eagle Construction, she wrote him a note thanking him for his time, and got the internship, which lasted until the day she graduated. The next day, she started working full time as an interior designer.

The Kornblaus have become accustomed to tapping into VCU talent.

“VCU plays a big role in the Richmond market and has given a lot to Richmond,” said Jeffrey, another of Sam’s grandchildren and a VCU Business alumnus. “It’s a big piece of what Richmond is today.”

Jeffrey did not intend to join the family business when he was younger. But spending time with his grandfather changed his mind. Jeffrey and Sam spent a lot of time together, and the knowledge Jeffrey gleaned from that time is invaluable.

“Being a part of a long line of real estate professionals, it’s a great feeling,” he said. “I look around the real estate marketplace and every place I go, I see something that resembles a part of what my family has contributed to the area. … The information and things that I’ve learned through the years, it’s a great feeling to spend time with an individual who knows a lot about what’s happened in Richmond over many, many decades and to take away what I’ve learned in each experience is a great feeling.”

Jeffrey hopes the next generation of Kornblaus will carry on the family principles and values that were passed on to him: hard work, commitment, trust and relationships.

In addition to those values, Sam’s son Bryan Kornblau, chairman and founder of Eagle Construction and president and principal of Markel|Eagle Partners, hopes to follow in his father’s footsteps of being fair, firm and successful. He also hopes to continue his father’s work by building on the foundation of The Kornblau Institute at VCU.

“It’s a great foundation and it’s one of the jewels of the region,” he said. “The real estate program at VCU is only one of 20 in the country. …. It’s a fantastic program. It creates a pipeline of real estate students that enter the real estate workforce.

“We want growth in the [VCU] real estate program. We want it to be more successful and receive recognition on a national basis, as it does today, but just more. And we want to make sure it has the funds it needs to grow and to promote research.”

One way to ensure its success is for students and faculty to follow Sam’s advice: “To be very, very sharp, you must love your work. And if you love your work, you will succeed.”

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