1941

School of Business established with Laurence J. Ackerman as Dean.

1947

First academic departments introduced – Accounting, Finance, Industrial Administration, Insurance, Law & Secretarial Studies, and Marketing.

1957

Evening MBA Program at the Hartford campus is offered.

1958

The School’s undergraduate program earns accreditation by AACSB International – the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

1959

Real Estate studies are added to the curriculum.

1960

Full-Time MBA Program is launched and is only open to Air Force officers.

1963

Dean Ackerman retires and is succeeded by Dean Robert O. Harvey.

1964

Full-Time MBA Program opens to civilians.

1965

Center for Real Estate & Urban Economic Studies (CREUES) is established.

1967

First undergraduate internship program is established.

1968

Standardization of Storrs, Hartford & Stamford MBA Programs occurs.

1971

All three MBA Programs earn accreditation by AACSB International.

1974

Dean Ronald J. Patten succeeds retiring Dean Harvey.

1979

Health Care Management is added as a specialization to the MBA Program.

1980

Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CSBDC) is established.

1981

Information Management becomes an academic department, spinning off from Management, and eventually becomes Operations & Information Management.

1982

Business Career Center is established through a grant from CIGNA.

1984

Thomas J. & Bette Wolff Program in Entrepreneurship is established.

1985

Both graduate and undergraduate Accounting Programs receive AACSB International accreditation.

1987

First students are admitted into the Ph.D. Program.

1988

Dean Patten retires and is succeeded by Dean David Kidwell.

1990

First students are admitted into the Executive MBA Program.

1992

Dean Kidwell resigns and is succeeded by Dean Thomas G. Gutteridge.

1993

School of Business Hall of Fame is established.

1994

The School's first web site is established.

1995

The School is designated as one of 27 Centers for International Business Education & Research (CIBER) in the country.

1996

The first endowed chair is established – the Robert Cizik Chair in Manufacturing & Technology Management; the GE Capital Global Learning Center is established; the first Ackerman Scholars are named.

1997

UConn Downtown campus opens in the Travelers Education Center; the Connecticut Information Technology Institute (CITI) is established.

1998

New UConn Stamford campus opens its doors.

1999

The School breaks ground for a new state-of-the-art, $27 million learning and research facility; the Treibick Family Electronic Commerce Initiative Fund (TECI) is established; the MSA Program is launched.

2000

$1 million Student Managed Investment Fund is established; the Treibick Family Chair for CITI, the Gladstein Professor in Information Management and Innovation, and the Shenkman Family Chair in E-Business are established; WebCT is introduced in the School to enhance learning and facilitate online course delivery.

2001

The School opens the doors to its new home on Hillside Road; in partnership with GE, edgelab opens in Stamford providing 40 student internships; ING Center and the ING Chair in Financial Services established; Auran J. Fox Chair in E-Business is established; School completes and achieves the Kresge Challenge.

2002

BusinessWeek ranks UConn among the “Best B-Schools” in the country; Interim Dean CF Sirmans replaces Dean Gutteridge.

2003

William C. (Curt) Hunter is appointed Dean; the MSA Program goes fully online.

2004

UConn School of Business Graduate Business Learning Center and SS&C Technologies Financial Accelerator open in downtown Hartford; additional $1 million is added to the Student Managed Investment Fund.

2006

Interim Dean Mo Hussein replaces Dean Hunter.

2008

P. Christopher Earley is appointed Dean; ranked by BusinessWeek in Top 45.

2009

SCOPE learning accelerator launched.

2010

MS in Financial Risk Management is launched.

2011

The School of Business launches its master's degree program in Business Analytics and Project Management in 2011 in Hartford and it quickly draws national attention for excellence. In 2017, the program is also offered on the Stamford campus. Undergraduate Program ranked in Top 25 by U.S. News & World Report; Karla Fox appointed interim dean.

2012

The first "Startup Weekend, Storrs" was held in January; the School hosted the first U21 Doctoral Research Conference in Business in April.

John A. Elliott is appointed the eighth Dean of the UConn School of Business and the Auran J. Fox Chair in Business. His academic experience includes 20 years on the faculty at Cornell University and serving as the Dean at the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, part of the City University of New York.

2013

Inaugural Geno Auriemma UConn Leadership Conference hosted.

2015

The MBA program is ranked among the Top 100 in the world by Financial Times; the MSA ranked #2 nationally by U.S. News.

2016

Business and Human Rights Initiative established. The Board of Trustees vote to extend the lease at the Graduate Business Learning Center (GBLC) at 100 Constitution Plaza in Hartford and to add two additional floors to the existing space. The decision creates a long-term presence for the graduate programs in the heart of Hartford and reflects the surge in demand for specialty master's degree programs.

2017

The Center for Advancing Business Analytics (CABA) is established; Graduate Business Learning Center adds 2 additional floors to accommodate substantial enrollment growth; greater Hartford undergraduate program relocates from West Hartford to the refurbished Hartford Times Building creating the new Hartford campus.

2018

The School of Business and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences launch a new dual-degree, German-immersion program called EUROBIZ to give students an edge when applying for jobs with international companies.

Highlighting the long-standing excellence of our accounting department, alumnus Matt Bradford '16, '17 MSA gets the highest score in Connecticut, and one of the best in the nation, on the four-part CPA exam.

2019

Thomas Katsouleas, a leading plasma scientist with deep academic roots in teaching and research, becomes UConn's 16th President in February. "Increasingly, having a great business school has become more and more central to being a great university," Katsouleas said shortly after joining the university.

David Souder is appointed interim dean of the School of Business.

The School of Business establishes the Toscano Family Chair in Finance. Professor Yiming Qian is recruited as the inaugural chair.

The School's Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans (EBV) program celebrates its 10th anniversary. The program helps U.S. veterans fulfill their dreams of owning their own businesses. To date, program alumni have created 168 businesses.

2020

Amphenol, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Wallingford, Conn., created a $1 million accounting scholarship in honor of its late CFO Diana Reardon. Reardon earned her business degree from UConn in 1981. Her family said she would be thrilled that the scholarships will serve ambitious women pursuing accounting degrees.

After serving as interim provost, John A. Elliott returns as dean of the School of Business, where he holds the Auran J. Fox Chair in Business.

2021

In April 2021, the UConn Board of Trustees approved the creation of a master’s degree in FinTech (financial technology), allowing the School of Business to join the ranks of only a handful of universities around the globe to offer the specialized program. The program offers lessons in advanced business analytics, technology solutions and financial services. The first cohort began their studies in Spring 2022.

2022

The School of Business announced the addition of a full online master’s degree in Human Resources Management in September 2022, to begin the following year. The School’s program is designed to meet the changing needs of HR professionals as their roles become more strategic in the development of the destiny of their companies.

Two-time alumnus David "Dave" Wharmby '89, '02 MBA returned to UConn in Fall of 2022 as the new director of the Center for Real Estate and Urban Economic Studies. He replaced professor John Glascock, who retired after 11 years. Wharmby brings 30 years of experience in the industry, most recently at Barings. The Real Estate program ranks third in the world for real estate academic achievement, and No. 14 for undergraduate real estate programs, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The School of Business hosted its first Global Business Leadership in Sustainability Summit on March 25, 2022 on the Storrs campus. The half-day event gathered professionals, faculty, and students to discuss key topics for business, as well as existing sustainability initiatives across UConn. Organizers hope it will be the first of many conferences to build relationships between business partners and the growing number of students who aspire to make an impact on sustainability.

The School of Business announced in Spring 2022 that it would add a Social Responsibility and Impact in Business Minor for all UConn students, and a parallel concentration for marketing majors. The concentration/minor is designed to future business leaders in and addressing the local and global challenges of business and society. The new minor/concentration began in the Fall of 2022.

Spring 2022: The School launches a new graduate degree in FinTech (Financial Technology).

2023

UConn redesigns its MBA program making it faster to complete, more flexible and more convenient. The MBA credit requirement drops from 57 to 42 and students and opt for an online or hybrid program.

Alumna Antonietta 'Toni' Boucher '02 MBA gave the School of Business an $8 million gift to support expanded business development for entrepreneurs, particularly those developing scientific, engineering, or tech breakthroughs. It is the largest donation in the School's history. In recognition of her generosity and the achievements of her late husband, Bud, the management department is now named the Boucher Management and Entrepreneurship Department.

In November 2023, the School of Business, College of Engineering and College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources launched UConn Brewing Innovation to teach students about brewing beer and to support the craft-beer industry in Connecticut.

2024

March 2024—The School of Business hosted the third annual Hartford AI Day, drawing 380 business leaders, students and technology experts.

Fall 2024—School of Business launches new master's degree in Social Responsibility & Impact in Business.

December 2024—Longtime Dean John A. Elliott announces plans to step aside as dean and rejoin the faculty; Professor Greg Reilly is named as interim dean and a national search commences.

2025

The School launched a master’s degree program in Supply Chain Management; announced plans to offer an accelerated, One-Year MBA.

More than 100 undergraduates expressed interest in a new partnership between the School and Connecticut Wealth Management that offers academic preparation for those interested in becoming financial advisers.

The Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, a part of the School of Business, received the Outstanding Contributions to Venture Creation Award at the  2025 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers Conference in Calgary, Canada.  The award honors a university center that demonstrates excellence in supporting the launch and growth of startups. In the last decade, CCEI has served more than 1,200 startups or early stage companies that raised more than $702 million in follow-on funding.

The School ushered in a new, accomplished, and enthusiastic executive leadership team after some previous leaders retired or completed their terms. The team includes: Associate Dean of Graduate Programs Vishal Narayan; Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs Nora Madjar; and Associate Dean for Faculty and Research David Bergman. They are completmented by an innovative group of department heads, including George Plesko (Accounting), Gerlinde Berger-Walliser (Marketing), Travis Grosser (Management, Interim), Cuihong Li (OPIM) and Yiming Qian (Finance).

The School’s new Digital Frontiers Initiative (DFI) took root this year, promoting innovation, analytics, and technology in business practices. Led by the faculty in the OPIM Department, the initiative prepares students and professionals for the challenges of the digital economy, promotes research in technology, and encourages partnerships with industry leaders.