The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (also known as Chicago GSB) is the second-oldest business school in the U.S. and remains a major research center. Chicago GSB’s main campus is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, IL, USA. The school's Gleacher Center facility is located in downtown Chicago. The school is considered one of the world's leading business schools.
File:GSB Logo.gif.gif | |
Type | Private |
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Established | 1898 |
Dean | Edward A. Snyder |
Academic staff | 175 |
Undergraduates | No |
Postgraduates | 1088 |
Location | , , |


In 1943, Chicago GSB pioneered the extension of the MBA curriculum to working executives in the middle of their careers, becoming the first school in the world to provide the Executive MBA (EMBA) program. As a result, the School has been widely credited with popularizing various extension programs within the business world, such as the evening and weekend programs, as other business schools have followed suit in creating their own executive education programs.
Chicago GSB is one of the few top-tier business schools not named for a benefactor. While Chicago GSB is distinguished overall for its graduate business programs, its reputation is particularly notable in finance, economics, quantitative marketing and accounting. It has been consistently ranked as a leading program in these disciplines among graduate schools of business by BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal, among others.
Chicago GSB differentiates itself from other business schools by virtue of shaping future business leaders with the following traits: an emphasis on quantitative measurement of business hypotheses, from strategic management and marketing to finance and economics; a balanced teaching method of case study and lecture, placing equal emphasis on theory and practice; its global reach with MBA student exchange programs and permanent campuses in London and Singapore; an entrepreneurial culture, which involves students in every aspect of the School's decision-making process; and its fundamental curriculum, which focuses on applying fundamental critical thinking to a constantly changing business landscape.
Chicago GSB graduates hold leadership positions in for-profit, non-profit, governmental, and academic institutions around the world.
Programs
Chicago GSB offers Full-time MBA, Executive MBA, Part-time MBA, and Weekend MBA programs. The 2004 full-time class is comprised of 1088 first and second-year students. Chicago GSB also offers a part-time MBA program with identical curriculum, faculty, and classes to the full-time program. The part-time program is domiciled at the GSB's Downtown Chicago campus, but students in both the full-time and part-time programs may register for classes at either the Hyde Park Center or the downtown campus. The school also offers Executive MBA programs in its permanent campuses in Chicago, London and Singapore.
The full-time and part-time programs at the Hyde Park campus allows students to choose electives starting even in the first year, as they do not follow a cohort system along the lines of other top business schools. Students can opt to pursue one or more of the following areas of study (concentrations):
- Accounting
- Analytic Finance
- Econometrics and Statistics
- Economics
- Entrepreneurship
- Finance
- General Management
- Human Resource Management
- International Business
- Management and Organizational Behavior
- Marketing Management
- Operations Management
- Strategic Management
Students & Culture
Regardless of which program chosen, Chicago GSB graduates are reputed to be excellent critical thinkers who also develop team leadership skills through student-led groups, and the School is particularly envied for its rigorous and challenging culture.
Chicago GSB culture emphasizes rigorous analytical thinking before executing a deliberate plan of action, through cooperation and detailed attention to facts. Much of Chicago GSB’s reputation for excellent critical thinkers is driven by the School’s distinguished list of Nobel prize winners and the new business theories developed at the School. Many aspects of Chicago GSB, from admissions decisions, to admitted students weekend, to orientation week, to the annual conferences and events that the School hosts, are organized and led by students. For example, a required course in the first quarter for all incoming students is LEAD (Leadership and Effectiveness Development) [1], taught by selected second-year students who are prepared through class instruction the previous quarter. LEAD focuses on core leadership values of motivating people, building relationships, and influencing outcomes. There are currently over 60 student-led groups. [2]
History
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business was launched by Edmund James, former director of the Wharton School, in 1898 as the second-oldest business school in the United States. The School was chartered as an extension of the University of Chicago’s founding principles of “scientific guidance and investigation of great economic and social matters of everyday importance,” as echoed by founding president William R. Harper. Chicago GSB is considered as a first mover in many areas of business school education:
- First business school to have a Nobel laureate on its faculty (George Stigler, 1982)
- First business school to have had six Nobel Prize winners: George Stigler, 1982; Merton Miller, 1990; Ronald Coase, 1991; Gary Becker, 1992; Robert Fogel, 1993; and Myron Scholes, 1997
- First and only business school to have campuses on three continents (in Chicago, London, and Singapore)
- First to initiate a Ph.D. program in business, 1920
- The first academic business journal is founded at Chicago, 1928
- First university to grant a PhD in business to a woman, Ursula Batchelder Stone, 1929
- First program to educate hospital administrators, 1933
- First Executive MBA (EMBA) program for experienced managers offered, 1943
- First to offer EMBA program in Europe and Asia
- Dean George P. Shultz develops first minority scholarship program at a business school, 1964
- GSB students found the National Black MBA Association, 1972
Ranking and Reputation
Chicago GSB's MBA programs have been ranked as follows:
Full-Time MBA Programs
- #1 The Economist poll of polls [3]
- #1 Financial Times Asia[citation needed]
- #2 BusinessWeek biennial rankings, 2004[4]
- #3 Forbes, 2005[5]
- #5 (US), #6 (global) Financial Times, 2006[6]
- #6 Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005[7]
- #6 U.S. News & World Report, 2006[8]
- #13 The Wall Street Journal, 2005[9]
Executive MBA Programs
- #3 BusinessWeek, 2005
- #2 U.S. News & World Report, 2006
- #6 Financial Times, 2005
- #1 in Asia, Financial Times, 2003
Part-Time MBA Programs
- #2 U.S. News & World Report, 2006
- #4 Forbes biennial rankings, 2005
Perception by Corporate Recruiters
According to the more recent BusinessWeek biannual MBA rankings [10] as of October 18, 2004 (p.65): "Chicago's grads were hands-down favorites in our survey of companies that hire MBAs. More than just a factory for churning out economic whiz kids, the school's capacity for shaping students' thinking was at the top of recruiters' minds."
Notable Faculty Members
Some of Chicago GSB's most prominent scholars and professors, past and present, include:
Economics/Finance
- Gary Becker, Nobel prize winning economist, considered to have coined "human capital" and "rotten kid theorem," known for price theory [11]
- Ronald Coase, Nobel prize winning economist, known for work in contract theory
- Eugene Fama, “Man Who Launched Modern Finance” - financial economist and originator of efficient market theory and co-originator of Fama & French Three Factors Model (also alumnus, M.B.A. and Ph.D.)
- Robert Fogel, Nobel prize winning economist, known for work in population economics
- Milton Friedman, Nobel prize winning economist, proponent of unfettered free market economics
- Austan Goolsbee, economist, Fulbright Scholar researching Internet taxation in the US and European Union
- Randall Kroszner, professor of economics, on leave as Governor (2006-2008) on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
- Steven Levitt, economist, author of Freakonomics, John Bates Clark Medal recipient and director of the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory [12]
- Merton Miller, Nobel prize winning economist (also alumnus, M.B.A. and Ph.D.)
- Kevin M. Murphy, economist, John Bates Clark Medal recipient and MacArthur Fellow
- Raghuram Rajan, chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, winner of the Fischer Black Prize
- Luis Rayo, economist known for his work with Gary Becker on developing an economic framework for explaining the state of happiness
- Myron Scholes, Nobel prize winning economist, co-originator of the Black-Scholes options pricing model
- George Shultz, economist and former dean, also former U.S. Secretary of Labor, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and U.S. Secretary of State
- Richard Thaler, behavioral economist, cited as significant influence by Daniel Kahneman, 2002 Nobel laureate in economics, on bridging psychology and economics in decision models
Strategic Management
- James O. McKinsey, founder of McKinsey & Company in 1926, pioneered budgeting as a management tool
Decision Models
- John Birge, professor of operations management, former dean of engineering school at Nortwestern University
Marketing
- Peter Rossi, professor of marketing, founding editor of "Journal of Quantitative Marketing and Economics" in 2003 along with the annual Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME) Conference
- Sanjay Dhar, professor of marketing, known for work in brand management, advertising and promotion, was named by Economic Times as one of dozen "big guns" in marketing from India
- Pradeep Chintagunta, professor of marketing, known for quantitative research on purchasing patterns
- Jean-Pierre Dube, associate professor of marketing, focuses on pricing strategy
- Puneet Manchanda, associate professor of marketing, researches quantitative metrics of marketing communication effects
Private Equity
- Steven N. Kaplan, professor of entrepreneurial finance and private equity, known primarily for empirical research of buyouts and venture capital
- Scott F. Meadow, clinical professor of entrepreneurial finance and private equity, known primarily for 400% career IRR and "Meadow Ratio"
Accounting
- Roman Weil, professor and co-author of popular textbooks "Handbook of Cost Management," 2nd ed. (2006); "Financial Accounting," 12th ed. (2007); "Managerial Accounting," 8th ed. (2006); "Litigation Services Handbook," 4th ed. (2007)
- Douglas Skinner, professor of accounting, winner of 2004 Jensen Prize from The Journal of Financial Economics, former faculty chair at University of Michigan (2001-2003)
Leadership
- Marvin Zonis, professor emeritus of business administration, known for work on leadership theory and political risk
- Warren L. Batts, clinical professor of "Taking Charge," former CEO of Dart & Kraft (the large conglomerate consisting of Kraft Foods, 1980-1996) as well as former CEO of several other large corporations (Mead Corporation, Tupperware and Primark International)
- Howard G. Haas clinical professor of "The Practice of Leadership in Business," former CEO and Chairman, Sealy Incorporated, 1967-86; co-author with Bob Tamarkin of "The Leader Within"
Research and Learning Centers
The GSB promotes and disseminates research through numerous centers and institutes:
- Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory [13]
- Center for Decision Research [14]
- Center for Population Economics
- Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) [15]
- George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State [16]
- Institute of Professional Accounting
- Michael P. Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship [17]
- James M. Kilts Center for Marketing [18]
Notable Chicago GSB Alumni
Banking and Financial Services
- Brady Dougan, CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston
- Jon Corzine, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, Governor of New Jersey
- Philip J. Purcell, former Chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley
- Norman Bobins, President and CEO of LaSalle Bank Corporation
- Paul E. Purcell, Chairman and CEO of Robert W. Baird
- David W. Fox, Chairman and CEO of the Northern Trust Corporation
- Pete Ricketts, Vice-Chairman of Ameritrade and candidate for the U.S. Senate in Nebraska
- Archie R. Boe, former Chairman and CEO of the Allstate Corporation
Investment Management
- John Meriwether, CEO and Principal of JWM Partners, Former CEO of Long-Term Capital Management
- Roger G. Ibbotson, Founder of Ibbotson Associates
- Michael Larson, Investment Manager of Bill Gates
- George (Gus) Sauter, Chief Investment Officer of The Vanguard Group
- Joseph Mansueto, Founder and Chairman of Morningstar, Inc.
- Rex Sinquefield, Co-Founder along with Eugene Fama of Dimensional Fund Advisors, the $86-billion-asset money management firm considered to have started the “passive” stock market investing industry
- Clifford S. Asness, Founder of AQR Capital, $23 billion under management, and previously with Goldman Sachs as Director of Quantitative Research
- Mark Carhart and Ray Iwanowski, Portfolio Managers of Goldman Sachs $10 billion hedge fund called Global Alpha
Marketing
- James M. Kilts, Vice Chairman of Procter & Gamble and former Chairman, CEO, and President, The Gillette Company[19]
- Julie Roehm, Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications at Wal-Mart, formerly at DaimlerChrysler
- David Slump, Chief Marketing Officer at General Electric Energy Division
- Ann Mukherjee, Vice President of Marketing at Pepsico
- Mason Reay, Director of Marketing (Europe, Middle East, Africa) at Dell Computer Corporation
- Philip Kotler, author of textbook "Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, Implementation and Control," the most widely used marketing book in business schools worldwide, received his Master's Degree in economics and did post-doctoral work in behavioral science at the University of Chicago
Private Equity
- Peter G. Peterson, Chairman of The Blackstone Group; U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1972-73)
- William E. Conway, Jr., Founding Partner and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group
- Todd E. Warnock, Founding Partner of RoundTable Healthcare; formerly Managing Director and Head of U.S. Health Care Investment Banking at Credit Suisse First Boston
- Joseph Nolan, Senior Partner of GTCR with $6 billion under management
Government / Public Service / Non-Profit
- Muna Nijem, Economics Minister of Jordan
- Katerina Chumachenko Yushchenko, first lady of Ukraine[20]
- Andrew Alper, President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation
- Beryl Wayne Sprinkel, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, 1985-1989
- Arnold Donald, President and CEO of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
- Alisa Miller, President and CEO of Public Radio International
- Jon Corzine, Governor of New Jersey, and former CEO of Goldman Sachs
- Peter G. Peterson, (1972-73) U.S. Secretary of Commerce; Chairman of The Blackstone Group
Technology
- Watts Humphrey, developer of the Capability Maturity Model and winner of the National Medal of Technology (2005)
- Jaime Chico Pardo, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Telmex
Consulting
- Fred G. Steingraber, retired CEO of A.T. Kearney
General Management
- Tom Schoewe, CFO of Wal-Mart, the largest corporation in the world by sales according to the Fortune Global 500
- Karen Katen, President of Pfizer Human Health [21]
- Joseph Neubauer, Chairman and CEO of ARAMARK Corporation
- Mark A. Ernst, CEO of H&R Block
- Melvin Goodes, retired Chairman and CEO of Warner-Lambert
- Robert P. Gwinn, former Chairman and CEO of The Sunbeam Corporation
- Charles M. Harper, former Chairman and CEO of ConAgra Foods, Inc.
- David W. Johnson, former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company
- Dennis J. Keller, Chairman and CEO of DeVry Inc.
- Mark Loughridge, CFO of IBM[22]
- Jean Claude Monty, former Chairman and CEO of Bell Canada
- Joseph A. Pichler, former Chairman and CEO of The Kroger Company
- Richard Teerlink, Chairman and CEO of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company (retired)
Journalism
- Greg Palast, journalist and best-selling author
- Sara Paretsky, novelist and creator of the V.I. Warshawski mystery series
Entertainment
- Richard H. Steiner, Broadway producer, three-time Tony Award winner (Hairspray, The Producers, and Big River)