Michael P. Kercheval is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). He joined ICSC in January 2000 and was elected to the position of President and CEO in May 2001, becoming only the third CEO in the association’s more-than fifty year history. ICSC is the global trade and professional association of the retail property industry, with over 60,000 members in more than 100 countries.  ICSC provides research, education, advocacy and business-development resources to the individuals and companies who make up the world’s shopping center and retailing industries. ICSC is a global association, with a 501-c-6 designation in the United States, headquartered in New York City, with offices in Mexico City, Beijing, Singapore, Dubai, Brussels, London and Washington D.C. The organization has an annual budget of $US70 million and full-time staff of 150.

An economist by training, Mr. Kercheval started his career at the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1982 as an economist in its investment research area. Over the years, he held a series of positions culminating as Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Equitable’s U.S. $12 billion commercial mortgage portfolio.  Following the acquisition of Equitable Real Estate in 1997, by Lend Lease, Kercheval was named Principal and CEO of Lend Lease Latin American Realty Advisors, Ltd, operating in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile.

Earlier in his career Mr. Kercheval worked on a series of public health and development projects in Central America, taught Urban Economics at Columbia University in New York City, and served as staff economist on the Colorado Governor’s Blue Ribbon panel on Economic Growth Management. A graduate of the University of Colorado with degrees in Economics, Political Science, and International Affairs. Kercheval earned his graduate degree in Economics from Columbia University, New York. He has authored research papers on international economics, real estate investment and economic growth management. In addition to serving on the AMIGOS Board, he is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and American Society of Association Executives. Kercheval is also active on the executive committees of the University of Florida Retail Program, the Real Estate Associates Program (REAP), the ICSC Foundation and the New York Society of Association Executives, of which he is a past chairman. Kercheval is a member of the Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Real Estate Roundtable and a past executive committee member of the Travel Business Roundtable.

Mike, his wife Dana, and their two children reside near Princeton, New Jersey.