Alumni Profile: Tim Stevenson

Tim Stevenson, ’76, freely acknowledges that he was a terrible student. But that didn’t stop him from becoming the president of Viacom Realty Corporation, which handles the worldwide office real estate transactions for media giant Viacom.

When he was in seventh grade, Stevenson was placed in a classroom "with a lot of other underachieving kids," he said. His guidance counselor told him not to even attempt college.

But "earning a college degree was something I always knew I wanted," said Stevenson. That self-knowledge gave him the drive to follow the path he chose for himself. "It's important to define yourself, because if you don't, other people are more than happy to do it for you," he said.

College didn’t come easy; he had to take summer courses to get into Suffolk Community College. From there, he transferred to Buffalo State where he majored in psychology. "I figure our life’s work is to know ourselves better," he said, "and psychology is one tool to do that."

When he first came to Buffalo State, Stevenson was overwhelmed by the academic requirements and the need for self-discipline. But eventually, he decided to see what it took to get really good grades. "I had to sacrifice my social life," he said. "School became my first priority, my job was second, and my social life came third."

Stevenson went on to earn his master’s degree in public policy from Stony Brook University. After a series of career moves that began with a graduate-school internship, he was hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the New York City subway system and the Long Island Rail Road. There he managed retail space in the subway stations, including Grand Central.

"One time, the California Prune Board wanted to shoot a commercial in Grand Central Terminal," said Stevenson. "We arranged it, but I forgot to tell the station master. The Prune Board people surprised him with 60 dancers and a marching band. No one could hear the train announcements."

Stevenson was also instrumental in acquiring property when a section of the LIRR converted from diesel to electric, a process that went "really well," Stevenson said. During a subsequent MTA capital improvement program, Stevenson gained experience in office real estate, and his career took a new direction.

He was hired by a conglomerate that became Paramount Communications, which merged with Viacom—owner of 26 networks including Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and BET—in 1994. In 2006, Stevenson became president of Viacom Realty Corporation; he has conducted real estate transactions throughout the United States and in Antwerp, Budapest, London, Munich, Paris, Stockholm, and Warsaw. He also oversees transactions in Asia.

A thread that runs through Stevenson’s life is an insatiable desire to learn. He studies every new place he visits. "I explore each city on my own time," he said. "I take a tour bus, I use the mass transit system, I walk the streets and go to a museums. I try to figure out why people live where they live."

When he isn’t serving as an invited speaker for corporate real estate executives, or completing a transaction for Viacom from his office overlooking Times Square, he vacations at the home he and his wife Carol Cambitsis built on the Greek island of Kefalonia. He has become a student of Buddhism. Success has only whetted the desire for wisdom and understanding that has characterized Stevenson since he was 12 years old.