After a months-long search, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced the selection of Bob Goldberg as the next chief executive officer for the company on June 23.

Goldberg joined NAR in 1995 and currently serves as the NAR senior vice president of sales and marketing, business development and strategic investments, professional development and conventions. He will be the association’s 12th CEO since its founding in 1908.

“I’m humbled and excited to be named NAR’s next CEO,” Goldberg said. “This is a dynamic time for the association and the industry, and I am looking forward to my new role and working with Realtor leaders and staff to advance the association and our members toward long-term success.”

Goldberg will be succeeding Dale Stinton, who announced his retirement at the end of 2016 after 11 years as CEO and 36 years with the association.

“It was an honor to lead the nation’s largest and most influential trade association in partnership with NAR’s elected leaders, and I’m incredibly proud of what we have helped the association and our members achieve over the past decade as CEO,” Stinton said in the statement announcing his retirement. “My 36 years at NAR have been challenging but always rewarding; the time is now for a new leader to take the reins.”

Among his accomplishments with NAR, Stinton helped guide the creation of Realtor University, grow the Realtors Property Resource (a national database of real estate property) and spearheaded efforts to increase member participation in the association’s Realtor Party, which advocates issues and legislation.

NAR enlisted the Chicago-based executive search firm Hendrick & Struggles to help find Stinton’s replacement along with a 15-member search committee that included Chris Polychron, NAR’s 2015 president, as the committee chair and Cathy Whatley, NAR’s 2003 president, as the vice chair.

“Finding a successor for Dale Stinton was far from easy, but it was a challenge our search committee took very seriously. The final candidates, who were all top-notch, brought diverse backgrounds and the right mix of skills, but Bob Goldberg stood apart because of his considerable understanding of and expertise in the many issues facing the industry and NAR’s members,” Polychron says. “We greatly appreciate Heidrick and Struggles’ insights and assistance throughout the entire selection process and look forward to moving ahead.”

One of the reasons for picking Goldberg is his extensive knowledge within the organization and deep background in real estate technology. He is the president and CEO of the REALTORS Information Network, which was the precursor to Realtor.com. He is also the Senior Vice President for REALTOR University, which requires him to oversee the graduate school staff, the research center, curriculum development and budgets. In addition to this, he runs all of the sales for the organization, which includes event exhibit sales, publication advertising and the NAR affinity program, and oversees online products, marketing research and conventions.

Before joining NAR, Goldberg was the Senior Vice President of PRC Realty Systems, a computer-based real estate information system. There he was in charge of a number of areas including marketing, business development, sales, product marketing, product support and customer services.

“Bob’s vision, business acumen and unique ability to successfully leverage NAR’s technology investments will ensure Realtors remain at the center of the real estate transaction,” says 2017 NAR President William E. Brown.

“With extensive knowledge of the association and real estate industry, Bob brings with him a strong track record for future-based thinking and enacting change, which is why the NAR leadership team is extremely confident in his ability to lead the association and membership to continued future success.”

In an interview with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles back in 2016, Goldberg discussed how much he enjoyed being part of NAR and the work that he gets to do. He notes the importance of building relationships between the Realtors and companies that it works with and how, in the end, all of that is used to serve customers.

“Someone told me many years ago that you shouldn’t play politics in business,” Goldberg said in the interview. “If you always err on the side of doing the right thing for the customer or whomever you are serving, over 90 percent of the time you will come out on top. The reason is because you are being responsible to what the market needs and what the customer needs without trying to figure out a way around it.”