In reading through the profiles of this year’s 40 Under 40 honorees, it becomes apparent that commercial real estate offers a breadth of experience unmatched by many other industries. No two of this year’s honorees are alike in terms of their responsibilities, their backgrounds or their accomplishments.

A few represent the latest generation of real estate families, while others rose through the ranks at their firms. REAL ESTATE FORUM editors selected the 40 rising stars that are highighted over the next nine pages from among more than 250 nominations. As diverse a group as this year’s honorees are, what all 40 have in common is a commitment to real estate excellence and to making an impact on their chosen fields.

BEAU BEERY, 36, Coldwell Banker Commercial M.M. Parrish

JAMES CASSIDY, 38, Cassidy Turley

CHAD CHRISTENSEN, 39, Cottonwood Residential

NICHOLAS COO, 37, Faris Lee Investments

MARK COSENZA, 38, Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc.

SETH DAVENPORT, 33, Voit Real Estate Services

PATRICK DENNIS, 40, Wood Partners

PETER DICORPO, 40, CBRE Global Investors

ANDREW FARBMAN, 37, Farbman Group

BEN FRIEDLAND, 37, CBRE

JEFFREY FULLER, 31, The Bascom Group

BRIAN GARRIGAN, 35, Cole Real Estate Investments

TYLER HENRITZE, 31, The Blackstone Group

ERIC GROFFMAN, 35, Transwestern

DIRK HALLEMEIER, 40, MacFarlane Partners

RYAN HARDING, 32, UGL Services

JAMES KILPATRICK, 36, NAI Northern California

ANDREW KIRSH, 37, Raines Feldman LLP

RYAN KRATZ, 36, Colliers International Tampa Bay, Central Florida, Southwest Florida

EDWARD V. LAPUMA, 39, LCN Capital Partners

AMY LERSETH, 39, The Buzz Oates Group of Cos.

JEFFREY LESSARD, 38, Cushman & Wakefield Inc.

CRYSTAL LOFING, 34, Allen Matkins

MARK LONG, 39, Zimmer Real Estate Services LC

ANDREW LUSTGARTEN, 37, Studley

MAC MCCALL, 33, Franklin Street

JENNIFER MCELYEA, 31, Watt Investment Partners

PATRICK NUTT, 31, Calkain Cos.

DOUGLAS PRAW, 36, Goodwin Procter

JASON PUCCI, 39, The Kislak Co. Inc.

JAKE ROBERTS, 32 Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp.

MELISSA ROMAN BURCH, 36, Forest City Ratner Cos.

FRANK ROMEO, 38, Partner Engineering and Science Inc.

ADAM SAPHIER, 36, Trammell Crow Co.

MATT SCHENDLE, 39, Cousins Properties

LOUIS SOHN, Griffin Capital Corp.

JEFF STAUBACH, 37, Jones Lang LaSalle

MATHIEU STREIFF, 37, American Healthcare Investors

DEBRA TANTLEFF, 33, Roseland Property Co.

HIREN THAKAR, 37, Avison Young

…To read the full profiles of all these rising stars, please visit the October 2012 issue of Real Estate Forum.