Robert Matanky

Robert W. Matanky serves as president of Matanky Realty Group, Inc., a commercial real estate brokerage and property management company, president of Matanky and Matanky, Ltd., a law firm which concentrates in business and commercial real estate, and chief executive officer of MRG Construction Corp. He is involved with every phase of real estate development, including acquisition, zoning, financing, structuring, negotiation, construction, management, tax assessment, and disposition.

Robert is a member of the Real Estate Investment Association and served as a member of its board of directors from 1990-2003. He also served as a national group vice president of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Real Estate Securities and Syndication Institute (RESSI) in 1989-1990 and earned the designation of specialist in real estate securities from RESSI in 1985. In 1992, he earned the NAR designation of certified commercial investment member. He has served as a legislative contact for the Illinois Association of Realtors and as a member of the arbitration committee and the Group Investment Council of the Chicago Association of Realtors. He is a member of the Northern Illinois Commercial Association of Realtors and the Illinois State Bar Association and serves on the real property law and continuing legal education committees for the Chicago Bar Association.

As an expert in real estate, Robert has lectured for a number of institutions including the University of Illinois, IIT/Chicago-Kent College of Law, the National Association of Realtors, the Chicago Association of Realtors, The Decalogue Society of Lawyers, and the Chicago Jewish Historical Society.

Robert is a past president of The Decalogue Society of Lawyers and currently serves as president of The Decalogue Foundation. He has served in numerous leadership capacities in philanthropic, educational, and community building organizations. Those leadership positions include: past president, Associated Talmud Torahs of Chicago (the central agency for Jewish education); past chairman, The Hillels of Illinois; past president, Chicago Eruv, Inc.; editor-in-chief of The Decalogue Journal. He currently serves on the boards of these organizations as well as the Hebrew Theological College, Jewish National Fund, and Jewish Neighborhood Development Council of Chicago. Robert also holds numerous committee positions for the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

Robert’s interest in service and his leadership abilities were fostered as a student at UIC. He was president of UIC’s American Institute of Industrial Engineers, a vice president of Hillel, and a senator representing the College of Engineering in the UIC Faculty/Student Senate. He also was appointed by the chancellor to the student activities funding committee. Robert received the Circle Student Service Award twice and was inducted into the Activities Honorary Society. Long after graduation, in the 1990s, he was especially pleased to serve as co-chairman of the committee that built the UIC Levine Hillel Center.

Robert graduated with honors from the University of Illinois Chicago College of Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology/Chicago-Kent College of Law, and Hebrew Theological College. He earned his MBA degree with a specialization in finance from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago.