Bill Bubniak

William “Bill” Bubniak is the Executive Director of the Weiser Center for Real Estate at the Ross Business School and Director of Real Estate Initiatives/Associate Professor of Practice at Taubman College. Across both roles, his single driving mission is to provide the absolute best, most comprehensive real estate education possible for students. By seamlessly bridging the gap between classroom theory and high-stakes private sector execution, Bill ensures that University of Michigan graduates emerge as the next generation of visionary industry leaders.

Alongside his academic leadership, Bill maintains an active, prominent role in the private sector as an Executive Leadership Board member at NAI Farbman. With a career spanning 37 years and billions of dollars in commercial real estate transactions, his background as a licensed attorney, CPA (inactive), and licensed real estate broker deeply informs his approach to education. He believes in a curriculum rooted in real-world application, teaching students how to practically navigate risk, structure sophisticated deals, and master the macroeconomic forces shaping modern cities.

Under his direction, the real estate ecosystem at the University of Michigan has achieved significant milestones. Bill successfully launched an industry advisory board of over 75 leading professionals and spearheaded the fundraising of more than $2 million to support and scale the program. His initiatives have dramatically expanded flagship coursework, brought top-tier national REIT executives and developers directly into the classroom, and established robust programmatic support for experiential learning initiatives like the student-led Wolverine REIT Fund. Through his leadership, Bill continues to cultivate a thriving, cross-disciplinary pipeline connecting students across all University of Michigan schools & colleges directly to top-tier real estate careers.