Alice Connell Giancola, a retired senior managing director of TIAA-CREF and pioneer for women in commercial real estate, died from a brain tumor on Friday morning, surrounded by family, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, NY. She was 70 years old.

Ms. Connell began her distinguished career in commercial real estate at a time when few women believed such opportunities exisited. During her nearly 40 years of dedicated service leading the commercial mortgage lending practice and real estate equity group at TIAA-CREF, she developed the company's private equity portfolio and helped construct the first strategic plan for its commercial debt portfolio. She forged a high profile within the Real Estate Industry, actively participating in industry functions and holding leadership positions in some of the industry's most prominent professional organizations: she was the thrice elected Trustee of the Urban Land Institute, a Founder and past Chair of ULI's New York District Council, a member of the board of Empire State Realty Trust, a member of the Real Estate Advisory Board of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, a member of the Investment Advisory Board of CBRE Global Investors, a member of the Board of RREEF America III, a member of the Investment Committee of QS REP, and a member of the Advisory Committees of both Parmenter Realty Partners and Park Madison Partners. She was a past Board Member of the Pension Real Estate Association and WX and a past member of the Executive Committee of the Zell-Lurie Real Estate Center of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2003, she was honored by WX as their Real Estate Woman of the Year.

A lifelong Brooklynite and Nantucket summer resident, Ms. Connell was a proud alumna of Bishop McDonnell High School, a magna cum laude graduate of St. Bonaventure University and fierce Bonnies basketball supporter, and holds a masters degree from New York University.

She is survived by her beloved husband, Fred, her devoted son, David, her adoring daughter-in-law, Lindsay, her cherished grandchildren, Jack and Ford, and her loving brothers, William and Chris. She leaves behind scores of friends, colleagues, and mentees - cumulatively, a legacy of a remarkable life, extraordinarily well-lived.


   In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Alice's honor to:   

   American Brain Tumor Association 
8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Suite 550
Chicago, IL 60631