An accomplished executive in the field of real estate and business development planning, Eric Blair-Joannou earned his bachelor of arts with honors from Cornell University. After working for the ING Group, BNP Paribas, and J.P. Morgan, Eric Blair-Joannou researched urban transit economics at the Copenhagen Business School and continued his studies at Columbia University. There he earned a master's in urban planning and an MBA with a concentration in real estate finance.

Mr. Blair-Joannou interned for the New York City Department of City Planning, facilitating the development of administrative land use standards. He also served as a graduate intern at the New York State Department of Transportation, supporting the engineering planning of a State highway in Queens.

Alongside his career, Mr. Blair-Joannou contributes his time to several cultural and educational institutions. He serves as a trustee of the Bronx Museum of the Arts and on two advisory councils at Cornell University, as well as the co-chair of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Corporate Fund Junior Business Council. He is also a docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and has contributed to Columbia University's GSAPP URBAN Journal, and two publications at the Center for an Urban Future.