Rafael Hernandez

Account Executive, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Alumni Advisory Board

Commercial Real Estate

As an account executive at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Oklahoma City, Rafael serves as a healthcare facility underwriter for the Office of Residential Health Care Facilities (ORCF). He has underwritten 41 facilities, totaling 3,353 units (5,107 beds) and $619.9 million in loans. The average loan amount per facility is $15.7 million, with facility sizes ranging from 48 to 287 beds. Before joining HUD, Rafael was an FHA asset manager at Walker & Dunlop in Needham, MA, managing a $9.87 billion portfolio of 499 HUD-insured multifamily properties, including affordable housing and healthcare facilities. Prior to that, he was an FHA analyst and processor at Bellwether Enterprise in New York City, specializing in commercial multifamily loans and servicing over 80 projects worth over $979 million. These projects included new construction, redevelopment, rehabilitations and refinancing. Earlier, Rafael was an associate at Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Headquarters in Manhattan.

Military

Major Hernandez, an armor officer in the United States Army, commanded 56 Cavalry troops in Baghdad, completing over 300 convoy and reconnaissance missions from 2009 to 2010. Currently, he serves as an army instructor teaching at the Command and General Staff College and was recently the squadron executive officer and S3 for 3rd Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard.

Education

PhD in Planning, Design and Construction, Gibbs College of Architecture, University of Oklahoma, expected 2028
MS in Construction Administration, Columbia University, 2018
MS in Real Estate Development, Schack Institute of Real Estate, New York University, 2017
MBA in Finance, Daniels College of Business, 2012
BS in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2005