About the Founder
John Colvin is an alumnus of the University and a principal owner of Questar Properties. He has been engaged for years, giving back to the community and his industry. He has served as president of the Maryland chapter of the National Association of Home Builders, and served on multiple statewide commissions under many Governors for the state of Maryland.
John Colvin sees his late mother, Neomie Colvin, as his greatest role model. She possessed only a high school education, but she shattered the glass ceiling. She first worked as a real estate appraisal, in 1935, and then agent, eventually becoming a premiere commercial real estate broker, developing a client list of Baltimore's most premier developers. John recalls, "She had a calculator for a mind." As a youngster, he watched his mother intently. "I learned early on that I didn't want to be the broker. I watched my mother work on transactions for years, then economic times changed and someone would pull the plug, Years later, he set his sights on the top decision-maker position. "I wanted to be the guy who made it happen or pulled the plug-the developer, the builder."
John is an adviser and lecturer for the program which uses a collaborative and interdisciplinary instructional approach. The Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development stands on the cutting edge of the field. "Location, location, location!" says Colvin, is a big draw. With the school less than five miles from the nation's capital, Colvin says, "I do not believe that there will be a real estate development program in the country that will have our access to the leaders of this industry." As he points out, "this region is an unparalleled laboratory for the study of real estate development. There is post-industrial Baltimore City, ripe with investment opportunities, to the north and the nation's capital with its monumental attractions to the south. There are classic aging suburban areas, the steep slopes of the Western Maryland mountains and the fragile estuaries of the Chesapeake Bay. The first planned city in America is being restored at historic St. Mary's City in Southern Maryland and there are Civil War battlefields in Central Maryland to be considered. Finally, Maryland encompasses the challenges of recreational and resort development from the ski slopes of Western Maryland to the Atlantic Coast beaches of the Eastern Shore. Indeed, virtually every development opportunity imaginable is right here."
His pride in the University of Maryland is personal, and profound, as he points out, "It is my privilege to give back to my alma mater and my chosen profession." Colvin is an asset to the University and the School, but mostly to the students who participate in the MRED program.
John Colvin is married to a professor at the University of Baltimore and has two children. His son's career is in real estate and daughter is completing the doctoral requirements from University of Maryland, College Park.