New York-based Cushman & Wakefield has hired Harvard University graduate Edward Forst as its new president and CEO. He will join the firm effective Jan. 6.

Forst most recently served as an advisor to Fenway Partners, a private investment firm. He has worked at Goldman Sachs & Co. as global co-head of the investment management division, a member of its management committee and previously as the firm’s chief administrative officer.

During the financial crisis of 2008-2009, Forst was selected to be the first executive vice president and principal operating officer of Harvard University. The Harvard graduate led the university’s nonacademic affairs and served as advisor to the secretary of the treasury of the United States.

Forst is treasurer, trustee and member of the executive committee of Carnegie Hall; a member of the executive committee of the Harvard University Capital Campaign; a member of the advisory board of the Harvard Stem Cell Science Initiative; a member of the board of advisors of the Yale University School of Management; and a trustee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

"We are delighted to welcome Ed to Cushman & Wakefield and look forward to working closely with him," Carlo Barel di Sant’Albano, chairman of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who has served as interim president and CEO of the firm for the past five months, said in a statement. "We have outstanding professionals around the world who are committed to bringing the highest quality real estate services to our clients. Under Ed’s leadership we aim to further strengthen Cushman & Wakefield globally."