record-breaking Because of UConn campaign<\/a>, which aims to raise $1.5 billion in gifts and donations.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m very happy and proud to be able to do this and to give back to help the next generation,\u2019\u2019 Morizio says. \u201cI also hope my gift will inspire others in our industry to consider supporting the students and the university.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Morizio is President of Colliers International\u2019s Connecticut and Western Massachusetts Offices. He has played a role in the purchase and sale of some of the area\u2019s most well-known properties, including The Gold Building, Goodwin Square, CityPlace II, the Stiltz building, and 280 Trumbull Street in downtown Hartford. He also spearheaded the sale of the GM plant in Bristol, the Seth Thomas Clock Factory in Thomaston, and the Fafner Bearing plant in New Britain.<\/p>\n
He has marketed properties exceeding $800 million in value and totaling more than 100 million square feet.<\/p>\n
He credits his success to hard work and taking the time to build personal relationships with clients, earning their trust as both a friend and valuable adviser.<\/p>\n
As a UConn Student, Morizio Worried About Money<\/strong><\/p>\nMorizio didn\u2019t come from a wealthy family, and would have appreciated having a scholarship when he was a UConn student. Morizio grew up in a three-family home in Hartford and later moved to Wethersfield, with his parents and three siblings. His father was a plumber and his mother was a homemaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked for my Dad all summer to pay my tuition. My friends were out having fun, and I was on the job site,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cMoney was tight. UConn had no food service on the weekends, and I had to cover that expense, and also save for a couple dates. Any kind of scholarship would have helped out.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Morizio\u2019s father would buy old houses, often with no heat, and add boilers, renovate kitchens, and repair bathrooms before selling them. Morizio used to ask his father how he selected the houses to buy and his father would say he trusted his gut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to understand which places were good investments, and which to avoid,\u2019\u2019 he says. He found those answers through the real estate program.<\/p>\n
\u201cUConn really changed my life. The light bulb went on and that\u2019s when I knew what I wanted to do with my life,\u2019\u2019 he says. On a personal level, Morizio says he \u201ccame out of his shell\u2019\u2019 and made good friends who are still a big part of his life to this day.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Students Are Super Smart, Morizio Says<\/strong><\/p>\nMorizio, who serves on the dean\u2019s advisory cabinet in the School of Business, often mentors UConn real estate students and is impressed by the aspiring professionals he meets.<\/p>\n
\u201cUConn students today are unbelievable,\u2019\u2019 he says. \u201cThey\u2019re super smart, outgoing, they can talk to anyone. I think they can do great things. Today, it is a different world from when I was their age. It used to be you could develop business connections just by joining the local country club. Now you have to prove your worth every day. But I believe that employers and business leaders will still hire people based on their expertise, and that\u2019s one of the strengths of the real estate program.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
UConn’s real estate program, established in 1965, is one of the oldest undergraduate programs of its kind in the country. From the beginning, it approached real estate as a distinct asset class. Today, the program graduates roughly 60 majors and minors each year, supported by a deep network of engaged alumni and industry partners.<\/p>\n
Recent alumni have accepted jobs across the industry, including in brokerage roles at firms like CBRE and Colliers, commercial banking at J.P. Morgan, investment banking at Deutsche Bank, and private equity at firms such as GID, Marcus Partners, and Cigna Realty Investors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Nicholas Morizio Family Scholarship will benefit generations of students to come,\u2019\u2019 says David Wharmby, director of the Real Estate program. \u201cThis is a very exciting and generous gift, and we are extremely grateful to Nick for his ongoing support.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Morizio credits UConn for helping him find his path in life<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":245503,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2472,1862,2235,2724],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-245501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-gifts-donors","category-busn","category-today-homepage","category-workforce"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 11:34:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245501"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245505,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245501\/revisions\/245505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/245503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245501"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=245501"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=245501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}