COLLEGE STATION – “A marriage made in heaven.” That’s what Julio Laguarta called the partnership between Texas Realtors and Texas A&M University when the Real Estate Center was created nearly 50 years ago. Laguarta, former National Association of Realtors and Texas Realtors president, died Jan. 3. “Julio was the father of the Center,” said Executive Director Gary Maler. “Creating an organization to conduct real estate research for Texas was his idea. Although he was a Longhorn, he was ecstatic when Texas A&M agreed to house the Center he envisioned.” Appointed to a six-year term on the Center’s first advisory committee, Laguarta was elected its first chairman. Read more about Laguarta’s role in creating what was known at the time as the Texas Real Estate Research Center. Click to read more at www.recenter.tamu.edu.