KU School of Business to celebrate 100th anniversary over 2024-25 academic year
LAWRENCE — The start of the 2024-25 academic year marks 100 years since the School of Business was established at the University of Kansas.
To commemorate its centennial, the school will host events and activities for its students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends throughout the coming school year.
The school also has created a dedicated webpage that features a celebratory video, a timeline of milestones from the past 100 years, information about the school’s beginnings and a form to collect stories and memories.
The School of Business kicked off its yearlong centennial celebration with an Aug. 15 event at Capitol Federal Hall with former and current faculty and staff, Dean’s Advisory Board and Deans Club members, KU leaders, including deans and directors, and state and local officials. Lt. Gov. and Secretary of Commerce David Toland, a KU graduate, shared remarks about business education and its positive influence on the state.
Business students can receive a centennial T-shirt at the school’s annual Back-to-School BBQ for its faculty, staff and students Sept. 4. A Kansas City event for invited local School of Business alumni who graduated within the past 15 years is planned Sept. 12. Other events recognizing the school’s 100th anniversary will be announced throughout the year.
“We are excited to be celebrating a century of excellence in business education at KU,” said KU School of Business Interim Dean Susan Scholz. “The school’s dynamic history reflects the hard work and efforts of countless individuals over the past 100 years. As we celebrate our school’s beginnings, we honor those contributions and look forward to what the future holds for the KU School of Business.”
KU established the School of Business in July 1924 simply by including it in the university’s budget for 1924-25. Frank Stockton served as the school’s first dean and also was its longest-serving dean, stepping down in 1947.
Less than a year after the school was formed, the School of Business was admitted in May 1925 to membership in the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, now called the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The school and its accounting program continue to hold AACSB accreditations today.