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Executive MBA Our History

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The University of Chicago launched the world’s first executive MBA program in 1943.

Here’s a look at our history of innovation.

From Chicago to the World

The world’s first executive MBA program began at the University of Chicago in 1943, with a group of 52 dedicated students. Then, as now, they sought a transformative education that would propel them to lead in a rapidly changing world, while balancing school with their careers and families. Today, we bring The Chicago Approach to more than 240 Executive MBA Program students in Chicago, London, and Hong Kong.

75 Years at the Forefront of Change

Trace our history through more than seven decades of pathbreaking education and discover how Booth’s Executive MBA Program accelerated the value of the MBA.

75th Anniversary

(anticipatory music)

The period toward the
end of the second World War

was a very important period
in education, because there

were many returning veterans
who were very anxious

to get back to work, develop
the skills that they needed

to make contributions.

The view was that there
were older executives,

typically in their 40s and
even in their early 50s

who had never had the
opportunity to have a serious

business education.

We've always reached out
to the broader community.

There was a view with
William Rainey Harper,

back in 1895, that we should
bring the same faculty

to people that couldn't
afford or didn't have the

opportunity to go full time.

The next program came
along 25 years after that.

It was a risky move to think
about this, whether there

was going to be a market to do this.

The war eventually was going to end,

so what happens after the war ends?

Is there still going to be a
need to train people like that

in that method?

I think it was sort of the
bold thinking that goes back

to the founding of this
university, and continues

to create the hallmark for the
way this university is run.

From the first day that I
walked into Chicago Booth,

I heard of Bud Fackler.

Bud was the director of
the Executive MBA Program

for many years.

He was also a professor in the program,

and he was very, very loved
by all of his students

and by other faculty.

Bud was one of the original
founders of what eventually

became the Executive MBA
Council, and so that grew into

what is now a global council.

People have asked me how
we ended up beginning to move

outside of Chicago, and
often people want to see

a nice, clean, linear story.

We had a desire to have
a global footprint,

and so we analyzed the
market opportunities

and selected Europe.

It really didn't evolve that way.

I was in the dean's office at the time.

On my agenda was indication
that there were going to be

some visiting bankers
from Spain, and I had

no idea what this was.

They came into my office and
proposed what I considered

to be a completely outrageous suggestion,

which is, we'd like the
business school to start

a full-time MBA program in Andorra.

I must say, I was polite.
But after they left,

I thought, "This is a
really quite absurd idea."

Harry doesn't give up, and
he continues thinking about it.

He brings lots of people
into those conversations,

and from those questions,
and from those discussions,

have come some really major
and amazing innovations

in the school.

I wondered if we might be able to create

the Executive MBA Program
using the same faculty,

but doing it in a modular format.

- In the early 90s it
was easier to connect

and technology was facilitating
global connections,

businesses were thinking
more about global markets,

and we realized that, or
probably it was a student,

a type of Executive MBA
student, for whom the

opportunity-cost of coming
to Chicago for an MBA

would be really way too high.

And the only way we would
connect with those students

was to make the step that we did, which is

to bring Chicago to them.

(lively piano music)

When it was announced that
we were going to open a campus

in Barcelona, I heard
about it by the phones

ringing off the hook.

It was an announcement
that was being broadcast

on BBC, and I think that
there was an article

in the Financial Times.

And within minutes of that
information being sent out,

I had about 30 phone calls.

To me, it's an example of the value

of keeping the door open,
even if you don't have

an exact destination of what it might be.

When we entered Asia, it wasn't easy.

It was challenging.

We worked through those
years, and I think that

because of that first couple
of years of experience,

it makes us stronger, and
it also makes us think

on our feet about how to
solve problem and make sure

that everything runs well.

I'm quite proud to say that
our students were very happy

with the way that we run the campus.

I think the staff deserves the recognition,

because they work really hard.

(music swells)

I think it is important
that we have a global presence

as a research institution,
as a business school,

where we have a mission to
influence and educate leaders.

And that's important to do worldwide.

And the only way to do that, really,

is to be present in those communities.

We really wouldn't have
the same global reach

of our alumni in the same
powerful network that we did

without the presence of
the Executive MBA Program.

One of the impacts of executive
MBA programs in general

is it has fast-forwarded
the study of business

to a larger audience, and
particularly to a more

senior audience, who were able to make use

of the techniques in more
serious managerial leadership

roles in their organizations.

So I think it, in fact, it accelerated

the value of the MBA.

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EMBA 75th Anniversary Video II

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EMBA 75th Anniversary Video II

A Milestone Anniversary

Over the course of 2018, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the program and its unique impact on the industry. Notable highlights can be found below.

$850,000+
Raised for Executive MBA Scholarships (in USD)

98
Candidates Referred to the program by Alumni

6,777,439
Social Media Impressions

Executive MBA through the Years

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Our History, by the Numbers

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70%

Percentage that the program grew in its first five years

70%
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22

Industries represented among our students, who represent 48 nationalities

22
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1st

First and only US business school with permanent campuses on three continents

1st

In the News: Our 75th Anniversary

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“One of the impacts of the Executive MBA Program is that it fast-forwarded the study of business to a larger audience, who were able to make use of the techniques in more serious managerial and leadership roles. I think, in fact, it accelerated the value of the MBA.”

—Harry L. Davis, Roger L. and Rachel M. Goetz Distinguished Service Professor of Creative Management