Q&A: Jameson turns practical experience into teachable moments.

Byline: Matt M. Johnson

File Kelly Jameson's current job under "sometimes you get more than you asked for."

Jameson, an associate professor of real estate at St. Cloud State University and the interim chair of the school's real estate program, got curious about 15 years ago about what it would be like to teach real estate at the college level. If she did, she'd be coming out of a practical, rather than academic background, having worked in leasing and building owner representation with Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers and as the vice president of development for the St. Paul Port Authority.

Jameson asked her undergrad real estate professor, Steve Mooney, how to do it and he gave her the framework of a plan. She got her MBA and started teaching her first classes at St. Cloud State on a part time basis in 2005.

"You know, 15 years later, here I am," she said.

This year, Jameson, 43, earned tenure at the school and stepped into the real estate chair role after Mooney retired. The program has about 50 students taking classes this year and Jameson hopes to attract more as demand for real estate professionals increases.

"We need to have more people thinking this is where they want their careers to be," she said. "Now, how can we get the real estate program to grow and make sure that we have enough people to fill these great jobs that are out there."

Finance & Commerce sat down with Jameson to learn about how she's training the real estate professionals of tomorrow, and to find out how she spends her time away from work. Her answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did you get into this line of work?

A: I'm probably on a little bit of a non-traditional footing into a real estate professor. I graduated with a real estate degree from St. Cloud State 20 years ago. And then I went down to go work in the Twin Cities, first as a property manager, and did that for about seven years for what's now Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers.

After doing that, I was vice president of development for the St. Paul port authority for six years. At that time, I had been doing some adjunct teaching. After my two children were born, I was looking for something with a more flexible schedule. St. Cloud just happened to be hiring a business practice professor. And so I was able to get in with St. Cloud State as a tenure track professor in real estate.

After I got my master's degree from the Carlson School at the U of M, I taught property management as a...