Robert Cristiano

Dr. Cristiano is a Capstone Professor at Georgetown University teaching real estate in the Master of Professional Studies in Real Estate Program.

Photo of Robert Cristiano

Dr Bob, as his students call him, received the 2019 Tropaia Outstanding Faculty Award which honors faculty who advance the mission of the School through active engagement of students in teaching and learning, a commitment to their field of study, and contributions to the Georgetown and Washington, D.C. Communities.


Cristiano completed a successful 35-year career as a Master Developer in Newport Beach, CA before moving to the Washington DC area in 2013. He has developed master planned communities as large as 10,000 acres, built apartments, homes, offices and retail centers as small as 10,000 square feet. He specialized in senior housing and faith-based development since 1984. Experienced in international real estate, he imported capital from Saudi Arabia, acquired a new Embassy for Hungary, and purchased the $100 million headquarters of Radio Free Europe in Prague, Czech Republic.


Dr. Cristiano now focuses on community-centric development through Academic/Public/Private Partnerships, building affordable senior housing in partnership with cities, agencies and the faith-based community. He is the Founder of a Virginia non-profit foundation, Sanctuary AP3 Co. whose purpose is to promote the development of affordable housing on the excess land of houses of worship in the United States. He has created the Georgetown Affordable Housing Initiative in which MPRE students prepare their Capstone feasibility studies on creating an affordable housing project on church land. More than 80 such studies have now been completed, with several under development.


Before joining Georgetown, Dr. Cristiano taught college in California for 12 years. He was named the Real Estate Professional in Residence at Chapman University in Orange County, California where he was an Adjunct Professor in the Argyros School of Business & Economics. He joined Chapman in 2004 as Associate Director of the Hobbs Institute of Real Estate, Law & Environmental Studies and served as Director of Special Projects at the Hoag Center for Real Estate. He was awarded the 2011 Outstanding Professor at Chapman University by the Alpha Kappa Psi Business Fraternity.


Dr. Cristiano has been a Senior Fellow at The Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco, a Contributing Editor at New Geography.com and a contributor to The California Political Review.


As a pioneer sports psychologist in the 70s, he was Director of The Institute of Sports Excellence at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL, a consultant to the 1980 U.S. Olympic Committee, and trained athletes for the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, New York.


Dr. Bob has been married to Judy for 43 years and resides in N. Arlington, Virginia. He has two grown children, three grandchildren and, two small dogs.