The Kellogg School: Initiatives, Innovations and Awards

The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University was founded in 1908. It is home to a world-renowned research-based faculty who combine rigor and relevance in their scholarly work and in the classroom.

The Kellogg School is also known for its innovation in the field of management education across its portfolio of programs, which include Full-Time, Part-Time and Executive MBA programs, as well as nondegree Executive Education courses. The school also offers JD-MBA, MD -MBA and MMM-MBA joint degree programs.

In addition to an international student-body that comprises nearly 30 percent of students, the Kellogg School has a built a global presence through strategic alliances with business schools in Asia, Canada, Europe and the Middle East as well a recent campus in Miami to serve the Latin American market.

Below are some important dates and facts associated with the school's evolution:

1908 · Northwestern University (NU) School of Commerce is founded in downtown Chicago with the help of an NU economics professor named Willard E. Hotchkiss, who also is named the school's 1st dean. Evening classes are offered to local businessmen with the intention of providing practical training in subjects such as accounting and business law.

1912 · School begins offering a 5-year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) program, consisting of a two-year liberal arts “pre-commerce program” on the Evanston campus followed by three-years of full-time evening courses downtown.

1917 · Professor Arthur E. Swanson is named 2nd dean following his innovative efforts to formalize the school's curriculum. As a faculty member he designed marketing and management policy courses, and was also a founding member of the American Association of Collegiate Business Schools (AASCB).

1917-18 · The school introduces a variety of curriculum changes to align more fully coursework with business practice.

1919 · Ralph E. Heilman, professor of economics and social science at Northwestern, becomes 3rd dean in the school's history.

1919 · Bachelor of Science in Commerce (BSC) established as full-time undergraduate program on Evanston campus.

1919 · Bureau of Business Research established, becomes only the second business research center in the nation. The bureau's mission is to encourage more substantial faculty contributions in research and publishing on business problems that could, in turn, make them more effective as instructors.

1920s · To continue to enhance the academic reputation and intersection of theory and practice at the School of Commerce, both an MBA and PhD program are established. The latter helps formalize an academic approach program mixing economic theory, history of economic thought and principles of statistics.

1923 · Evanston campus moves to Memorial Hall.

1926 · Chicago campus moves to the new Wieboldt Hall.

1937 · Northwestern Law School professor Fred D. Fagg Jr. named 4th dean.

1939 · Professor of economics Homer B. Vanderblue named 5th dean . With experience as both an academic and businessman, his legacy includes keeping the school running despite the economic pressures of World War II that forced many competing institutions to shut down.

1942 · The School of Commerce separates from its operation within the College of Liberal Arts and expands its undergraduate program expanded from two to four years.

1950 · Joseph M. McDaniel, professor of business administration, named 6th dean.

1950 · Graduate division moves to downtown Chicago.

1951 · Institute for Management established, through which the NU School of Business becomes one of the first to offer nondegree Executive Education programs.

1951 · Accounting professor Ernest C. Davies named 7th dean.

1953 · Professor of business administration Richard Donham named 8th dean.

1956 · Northwestern School of Commerce changes name to Northwestern School of Business, while Graduate Commerce Division becomes to the Graduate School of Business Administration.

1965 · John A. Barr named 9th dean over what is now known collectively as the NU School of Business and the NU Graduate School of Business Administration. Prior to joining the school, Barr had been president and chairman of the board at Montgomery Ward.

1966 · Marks the last year that NU School of Business admits undergraduate students following a decision to eliminate the undergraduate program and focus instead on graduate-level education. This event helps shift the school's philosophy toward leadership in lifelong learning as a critical tool for leaders grappling with an increasingly complex and technologically driven global economy. The undergrad program is phased out by 1970.

1967 · Marketing Professor Philip Kotler published Marketing Management, which is now in its 12th edition and published in nine languages.

1968 · Building on its analytical strengths, the school founds the Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department which will attract outstanding scholars who create new frameworks rooted in mathematics, economics and game theory. Professor Stanley Reiter, who arrived in 1967, was instrumental in this effort. Among those joining the faculty would be: Mort Kamien, David Baron, Mark Satterthwaite, Ehud Kalai and Nancy Schwartz, the school’s first female faculty member appointed to an endowed chair.

1969 · Kotler and colleague Sid Levy produce the seminal article, "Broadening the Concept of Marketing," which is published to wide acclaim in the Journal of Marketing and begins a vigorous discourse that significantly advanced the discipline's theoretical underpinnings and its standing in the academy as a whole.

1969 · Name changed to the NU Graduate School of Management; MBA becomes the MM (Master in Management degree). Changes reflect belief in broadening career focus for students in both public and private sector.

1969 · As part of a shift toward producing graduates that excel in team leadership, Conceptual Issues in Management (CIM) orientation begins. The orientation was later renamed Complete Immersion in Management (CIM). The program introduces all incoming students to the collaborative culture that will eventually gain the Kellogg School national repute.

1970 · Finance professors Donald Jacobs and Eugene Lerner establish the Banking Research Center, which begins the trend toward promoting rigorous scholarship amongst faculty and recruiting new professors that could focus their research on substantive business problems.

1971 · NU Graduate School of Management launches the first one-year MBA program in the U.S.

1972 · Leverone Hall on the NU Evanston campus is completed; NU Graduate School of Business moves from its Chicago location to the Evanston campus; The Managers' Program (TMP), a part-time MBA Program designed for working professionals, opens in the Kellogg building in downtown Chicago.

1972 · Stanley Reiter, a professor at both Kellogg and the economics and math department, establishes the Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management.

1973 · Joint degree program with Northwestern Law School begins.

1975 · Finance professor Donald P. Jacobs named 10th dean.

1975 · The school establishes the Outstanding Professor of the Year Award to honor faculty teaching, complementing a longstanding focus on academic research. The first recipient was Ram Charan. In 1994 the award was named in honor of Professor Lawrence G. Lavengood on the occasion of his retirement after 40 years of service.

1976 · The Executive Master's Program (EMP) founded; later renamed Executive MBA (EMBA) Program.

1979 · NU Graduate School of Management becomes the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management after receiving a $10 million grant from the J.L. and Helen Kellogg Foundation.

1979 · Kellogg opens the nation's first standalone Executive Education facility, the James L. Allen Center, which serves as a model for Executive Education facilities nationwide.

1985 · The Wall Street Journal, in its first-ever ranking of business schools, names Kellogg the No. 1 business school in the nation.

1986 · The Dispute Resolution Research Center is founded. Directed by Professor Jeanne Brett, an expert in negotiations, the center’s mission includes being a nationally recognized leader on dispute resolution and a major educational resource for those contributing to this discipline.

1988 · Ehud Kalai, Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, founds the journal Games and Economic Behavior.

1988 · BusinessWeek magazine names Kellogg No. 1 in its inaugural biennial survey; The Kellogg School will appear at No. 1 a record five times, receiving the top-spot in 1990, 1992, 2002 and 2004.

1988 · A gift from Mr. and Mrs. Edgar F. Heizer Jr. establishes the Heizer Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The Kellogg School had long demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit, including in how it recruited faculty and students and in its approach to curriculum development. Now the school begins consolidating its resources in entrepreneurship to create important opportunities for students and practitioners.

1998 - The Center for Family Enterprises was founded by Professor Lloyd Shefsky after students asked him about starting a club and with the support of Dean Jacobs.  The following year Professor John Ward joined as Co-Director of the Center which is a resource to students, alumni and others in the community who are part of family businesses or enterprises.

1990 · Kellogg begins offering the joint-degree Master in Manufacturing Management (MMM) program.

1990 · Finance professor Stuart Greenbaum founds the Journal of Financial Intermediation.

1991 · US News & World Report and BusinessWeek begin ranking Executive MBA programs and name Kellogg No. 1; The Kellogg EMBA program has held onto the top spot in both surveys ever since.

1992 · The Journal of Economics and Management Strategy is founded by Management & Strategy Professor Daniel Spulber.

1993 · The Kellogg School acquires Andersen Hall and adjoins it to Leverone Hall, doubling the size of the main Kellogg facility used by faculty, staff and the full-time MBA program. The new building is opened in the spring of 1995.

1996 · Kellogg launches the International EMBA (IEMBA) joint-degree programs with partner universities in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Canada.

2000 · The Leverone/Andersen facility is expanded and the new state-of-the-art building is named the Donald P. Jacobs Center, in honor of Dean Jacobs' 25th anniversary at the helm.

2000 · The Master of Management (MM) degree is changed to the Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

2000 · The main facility for The Managers' Program in downtown Chicago undergoes a $40 million renovation that transforms the building into the most modern of any part-time MBA program in the U.S.

2001 · Marketing Professor and Associate Dean Dipak C. Jain is named the 11th dean of the Kellogg School.

2001 · In April, alumnus and entrepreneur Joseph Levy ’47 is recognized for his long support of Kellogg by having the school’s social hub named the Carole and Joseph Levy Atrium. Called “one of the most active Kellogg alums” and “a driving force” behind the effort to name the school’s Evanston complex the Donald P. Jacobs Center, Levy has consistently contributed his talents and time to building entrepreneurship at Kellogg.

2001 · The Center for Executive Women is founded in June to develop and deliver research-based, actionable programs that address challenges facing women executives. Professor Vicki Medvec, along with colleagues Professors Wally Scott and Lloyd Shefsky, and Kellogg Advisory Board Member Sheli Rosenberg, initiated the center with support of the Office of the Dean.

2002 · Northwestern University and the J.L. Kellogg family approve changing the school name to the Kellogg School of Management; J.L. Kellogg School of Management will remain on all official documents.

2002 · The Kellogg School is named the No. 1 business school in the world by the Economist Intelligence Unit and will remain at No. 1 for three consecutive years.

2003 · The philanthropy of Carol and Larry Levy ’67 establishes the Levy Institute for Entrepreneurial Practice at the Kellogg School, building on earlier advances by the Heizer Center. The institute, directed by entrepreneurship expert Professor Steven Rogers, is responsible for shaping and managing the entrepreneurial curriculum at the school, as well as supporting conferences, case studies, speaker series and internship programs around entrepreneurship.

2004 · Online Kellogg Alumni Network is launched, providing an important link between the school and its 50,000 alumni worldwide. Services range from online career management services to enhanced lifelong learning events.

2004 · The James L. Allen Center undergoes major renovations that keep its facilities and technological capabilities at the forefront of executive education centers.

2005 · Kellogg establishes the Social Enterprise at Kellogg (SEEK) program to coordinate school-wide initiative on socially responsible leadership. The new program serves as the base for the extensive leadership platform that is implemented throughout the school.

2005 · Finance Professor Kathleen Hagerty is named senior associate dean, faculty and research, becoming the first woman to hold this role.

2006 · Kellogg opens a new campus in Coral Gables, Florida and launches the Kellogg-Miami EMBA program, which broadens the school's presence in Latin America. In the first full class, 17 countries are represented in a student body totaling 42 students.

2007 · The Kellogg School announced the creation of the Certificate Programs for Undergraduates, designed for Northwestern students intending to pursue a career in business. The program features two offerings: Financial Economics, which begins September 2007 in collaboration with Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences, and Managerial Analytics, which begins September 2008 in partnership with the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

2007 · The Kellogg School announces the creation of a Saturday MBA Program to complement its Evening MBA Program in downtown Chicago. In conjunction with this new offering, which allows working professionals who travel during the week to pursue an MBA, The Manager's Program (TMP) is renamed the Kellogg School Part-Time MBA Program.