Business school celebrates centennial

In 1900, the University of Wisconsin established one of the first five commerce programs in the nation, a small, experimental program based in the university’s economics department.

A handful of students met in the tiny rooms of North Hall, at a time when specific business studies were generally not viewed as necessary preparation for entering business.

One hundred years later, from that small beginning has grown one of the mostly highly regarded business programs in the country. Today, the School of Business has more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students and 30,000 alumni living and working around the world.

“The School of Business has come a long way in its first 100 years,” says Andrew Policano, who joined the School of Business in 1991 as its fifth dean. “I am confident that our next 100 years will be even more successful.”

Wisconsin’s was one of the first programs in the nation to combine specific business skills with a broad, liberal arts education. In its early years, the school helped forge some of the first partnerships between the university and business.

During the first half of the 20th century, the number of women studying business at Wisconsin grew by leaps and bounds. And following World War II, the UW saw its total enrollment swell, as veterans returned to campus and many students chose to pursue business degrees. Enrollment surged in what was by then known as the Department of Commerce within the College of Letters and Science.

In 1944, the department was awarded separate school status, becoming the School of Commerce, led by its first dean, Fayette Elwell, who lobbied for a new building to house the growing program.

Recognizing the increased need for graduate business education, the School of Commerce awarded its first master’s of business administration degree in 1946.

During the past 30 years, the School of Business has been noted for creating a number of specialized programs in areas as diverse as arts administration and applied security analysis. Increased private support allowed the school to establish a number of innovative programs such as the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research and the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship.

There were several milestones for the School of Business in the 1990s. Grainger Hall, a long-desired home for the School of Business, opened in 1993, becoming the first campus building to combine public and private funding. The business school established an executive master’s of business administration program in 1993 and an evening MBA program in 1998, allowing individuals to further their educations while continuing in their careers.

One hundred years after its start, the School of Business has alumni in executive positions at companies around the globe, world-renowned faculty, top-notch facilities and high-caliber students. Its undergraduate program is ranked among the top 1 percent and its graduate program among the top 5 percent of all business programs in the country.