William D. Sanders is an innovative American real estate businessman and developer. In 1968, he founded the real estate

Real estate

In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 firm LaSalle Partners, in El Paso

El Paso

El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and years later, the Security Capital Group (1990) and Verde Realty. Among existing companies that evolved from holdings once associated with Sanders are: ProLogis, Archstone-Smith Trust

Archstone-Smith Trust

Archstone is one of the largest investors, developers and operators of apartment communities in the United States. As of June 30, 2011, the company owned or had an ownership position in 434 communities located in the United States and Europe, representing 77,084 units, including units under...

 (a REIT), CarrAmerica Realty and Storage USA. In 1999, LaSalle Partners merged with Jones Lang Wooton to form Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. is a multinational financial and professional services company specializing in real estate. Global headquarters are located in Chicago, with an operational remit covering the Americas regional market...

.

Sanders graduated from Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1964 and, in 1999, received Cornell's Entrepreneur of the Year award. He was also Chairman of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT). For a profile of William Sanders, read this article by Real Estate Portfolio magazine found on REIT.com. http://www.nareit.com/portfoliomag/06janfeb/feat2.shtml