McDonough School of Business
40 years at Georgetown MBA from 1981-2021 inside Hariri Atrium
News Story

Celebrating 40 Years of the Georgetown MBA

Four decades ago, the 37 students who enrolled in Georgetown McDonough’s new Full-time MBA program became pioneers in creating one of today’s most respected programs in the world. 

The 19 women and 18 men of the first cohort were among 350 who applied to be part of that first class and 70 who were admitted via a personal phone call from Professor David Walker, who had been working with Dean Ronald Smith and Assistant Dean Bill Droms to launch the program. You can read more about the MBA Class of 1983 in Georgetown Business magazine’s coverage from fall 2013. 

Georgetown McDonough was not the first business school to launch an MBA, but it was the first to incorporate global business and ethics throughout the curriculum, ensuring a truly Georgetown experience from the very start. The program continues this tradition of innovation in its approach to preparing students to lead for the future, having been ranked the #1 program in the world by Bloomberg Businessweek for having the best-trained, most innovative, and most creative graduates

Throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, we invite you to celebrate this milestone with us. We will be in touch about special events in the future, and you can follow #McDonoughMBA40 on our social media channels. Watch our Instagram Reel for a peek at our celebratory fun! Joined Forté

Program Milestones

1981First MBA class enrolls at Georgetown
1983Harry Adamopoulos is the first student to receive a Georgetown MBA as the inaugural cohort graduates
1985Joint MBA/JD begins
1987Healy 105 reconfigured as the university’s first MBA case-style classroom
1988Georgetown McDonough gains AACSB accreditation
1990First Ultimate Four charity basketball tournament
1990First national ranking, #4 “up and comer” by U.S. News & World Report
1992MBA Volunteers student club forms
1993Average starting salary is $50,000
1994Joint MBA/MPP begins
1995Joint MBA/MSFS begins
1995MBA program launches a website and moves admissions online
1996Joint MBA/MD begins
1999MBAs move to the Car Barn
2000First MBA Global Business Experience, students consulting for companies in London and Buenos Aires
2005MBA Evening Program, now the Flex MBA, begins
2006Joined Forté
2010First McDonough Cup
2013Average salary surpasses $100,000
2013MBA program joins The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Management
2013First Graduate McDonough Alumni Reunion held
2014MBA Alumni Advisory Council established
2017First Executive Challenge
2018Ranks #1 in the world for having the best-trained graduates by Bloomberg
2019#1 in the world for having the most innovative and creative graduates by Bloomberg
2020STEM-designated Management Science Major begins
2020MBA Mentor Program begins
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