RANDOLPH HAWTHORNE

MBA '73

Randolph G Hawthorne was for many years a Principal and Owner of Boston Financial, a full service real estate firm based in Boston, which was acquired in October, 1999 by Lend Lease, a major global real estate firm which was at the time the largest U.S. manager of tax-exempt real estate assets. Mr. Hawthorne retired from Lend Lease in January 2001 after twenty-eight years, having served in a variety of senior leadership roles and serving on the Boston Financial Board. 

For most of his career Mr. Hawthorne was directly involved in the Acquisition of multifamily assets throughout the U.S. Most recently he was Chief Investment Officer of the tax credit apartment business and was responsible for new business product development and related Capital Sourcing activities. He was instrumental in creating new investment programs for historic properties and targeted residential and retail investments with one of the country’s largest financial institutions.

Mr. Hawthorne was a Director of Berkshire Income Realty, Inc. which acquired, owned, and operated multifamily residential properties. In April, 2003 it completed a $75 million offering of preferred shares which traded on the AMEX (BIR_pa), and in November 2015 it recapitalized and redeemed all shares.

Mr. Hawthorne served on the Advisory Board of Berkshire Mortgage Finance from 2003 until its acquisition by Deutsche Bank in September, 2005.  Berkshire Mortgage Finance was the largest privately held commercial mortgage banker in the country, and is one of the largest originators and servicers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily loans. 

For many years he was active in ULI (the Urban Land Institute) where he was a member of the Multi-Family Council's Blue Flight {www.uli.org}, and the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC) {www.nmhc.org} which he led as Chairman from 1996-1997. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Housing Conference {www.nhc.org}. He has served as a member of the Harvard Real Estate Academic Initiative Alumni Advisory Board. He previously was President of the National Housing and Rehabilitation Association and has been on the Editorial Board of the Tax Credit Advisor and Multi-Housing News.

Mr. Hawthorne focuses his activities on non-profit endeavors. He is Board Chair of The Boston Home {www.thebostonhome.org}, a non-profit residential facility for clients with multiple sclerosis. He is Chair of the Board of Overseers of the Celebrity Series of Boston {www.celebrityseries.org} which for 75 years has presented a rich variety of classical, dance and performing arts in Boston. He is an Emeritus Trustee of The Berkshire Theatre Group {www.berkshiretheatregroup.org} and previously was on the Board of the Austen Riggs Foundation. Mr. Hawthorne holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from Harvard in 1973 and a Bachelor of Science degree from MIT in 1971.

Mr. Hawthorne resides in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife Carliss Baldwin and can often be found on the golf courses of Boston, Western Massachusetts and the Monterey Peninsula.