Executive MBA Our History

Harry L. Davis: 0:10
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.

Glenn Sykes: 0:53
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 and that method? I think it was the bold thinking that goes back to the founding of this university and continues to create the hallmark for the way that this university is run.

Patty Keegan: 1:21
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.

Harry L. Davis: 02:03
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 and 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 propose 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.

Richard Johnson: 02:52
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.

Harry L. Davis: 03:05
I wondered if we might be able to create the Executive MBA Program using the same faculty, but doing it in a modular format.

Glenn Sykes: 03:14
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 it was probably a type of Executive MBA student for whom the opportunity costs 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.

Deb Fallahay: 03:47
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.

Harry L. Davis: 04:12
To me, it's an example of the value of keeping the door open, even if you don't have an exact destination or what it might be.

Intan Chen: 04:22
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 happy with the way that we run the campus. I think the staff deserve the recognition because they work really hard.

Richard Johnson: 05:04
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 presence of the Executive MBA Program.

Harry L. Davis: 05:39
One of the impacts of executive MBA programs in general is that has fast-forwarded the study of business to a larger audience, and particularly to a more senior audience, who are able to make use of the techniques in more serious managerial leadership roles in their organizations. So I think in fact, it accelerated the value of the MBA.