Richard Godfrey

Richard has had a multi-decade career in numerous aspects of real estate with special expertise and high-level experience in the creation and financing of affordable housing. For more than 20 years Richard was Executive Director of RIHousing, President of the National Council of State Housing Agencies, facilitated the creation of HousingWorksRI at RWU and served as an advisor to several presidential administrations, the U.S. House and Senate, and the U.S. Department of Treasury, especially with regard to programs that prevented home foreclosures and facilitated recovery of the housing industry following the Great Recession that began in 2008.

Richard is also an expert in the financing and development of major public projects including stadiums, highways and infrastructure. He has served, and is now retired from practice, as a public finance and securities lawyer; an SEC registered municipal advisor and municipal advisor principal; a Licensed Professional Planner; and Executive Director of the New Jersey Department of Treasury with responsibility for the issuance of all state debt; building, construction and finance of all state property; and serving on 54 boards and authorities including the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority, the NJ Turnpike Authority and the Casino Redevelopment Authority. 

Richard has a BA in Architecture and Urban Planning from Princeton University, attended the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University and has a JD from Seton Hall University Law School. At RWU, in addition to serving as Executive Director of the Cummings Institute for Real Estate, he has also taught such courses as Project Development and Finance and Real Estate Equity and Environment. 

‘We need to build up’: Leader of Roger Williams real estate school says R.I. could build smarter to balance environmental and housing needs 
- Boston Globe, April 1, 2024