Hilco Global announced that David H. Crawford has joined the firm to expand the Higher Education and Faith-Based Organization real estate advisory practice, bringing more than four decades of leadership experience across higher education, real estate, corporate, and legal sectors.

Crawford most recently served as the 11th President of McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, where he led the 196-year-old institution through a period of significant transformation. During his tenure, he restructured McCormick’s operations, redeemed its debt, increased its endowment, lowered tuition and student borrowing,  negotiated the sale of its campus to the University of Chicago, while overseeing its relocation to a new shared facility.

Earlier in his career, Crawford served as Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Allied Riser Communications Corporation, an internet and data services company with the late Sam Zell. He also held senior leadership roles at Equity Office Properties Trust, helping guide the company’s growth into the largest publicly traded owner of commercial office buildings in North America, and practiced law in the Bankruptcy and Restructuring Group at Kirkland & Ellis.

“David brings a rare combination of strategic insight, operational excellence, and deep relationship capital across sectors that are central to Hilco’s mission to grow,” said Michael Sheinkop, Executive Director at Hilco Global Professional Services. “His experience in higher education will enable us to deliver unique value to institutions navigating today’s unprecedented financial and organizational challenges.”

“Higher education and faith-based organizations are facing extraordinary financial, demographic, social, and technological changes. I have spent the last three decades seeing first-hand how those challenges impact mission and the services people depend on from these institutions. Hilco Global has a seasoned team of professionals that brings both subject matter expertise and capital to help clients move from financial uncertainty to financial sustainability,” said Crawford.

Crawford holds a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago and on the board of directors for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago.