Early history (1908–1950) The school was founded in 1908 as Northwestern University's
School of Commerce. It offered a part-time evening program. It was a founding member of the
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, that sets accreditation standards for business schools. The school played a major role in helping to establish the
Graduate Management Admission Test. Also, researchers associated with the school have made contributions to fields such as
marketing and
decision sciences. For instance,
Walter Dill Scott, a pioneer in applied psychology, helped establish some of the earliest advertising and marketing courses in the first decade of the twentieth century. He went on to serve as president of Northwestern University from 1920 to 1939. More recently, Philip Kotler and Sidney J. Levy's groundbreaking 1969
Journal of Marketing article, "Broadening the Conception of Marketing," laid the foundations for a greatly expanded understanding of marketing. Similarly, Kotler's Marketing Management text has played a key role in deepening the field's scholarship. In 1919, Ralph E. Heilman, a Northwestern graduate with a doctorate from Harvard, was appointed the dean of the school. And in the next year, the school launched a graduate program leading toward the Master of Business Administration degree, drawing nearly 400 students in its first two years.
Changes in focus and international expansion (1951–1978) In 1951, the school began offering executive education courses. The Institute for Management, a four-week summer program based in Evanston, expanded the following year to two sections. The program's success eventually led to it being expanded in Europe in 1965 with a similar program offered in
Bürgenstock,
Switzerland. In 1976, the school expanded its executive education offerings in Evanston, introducing a degree-granting program known as the Executive Management Program (EMP, today known as the Executive MBA Program). A watershed event in the school's history was the opening of the James L. Allen Center, home of the Kellogg executive education programs. The vision of Dean
Donald P. Jacobs (deanship 1975–2001; on faculty in Finance Department since 1957), the Allen Center enlisted the help of significant business figures in the Chicago-area, most notably
James L. Allen, a Kellogg alumnus and co-founder of consultancy
Booz Allen Hamilton. The Allen Center's cornerstone was laid in 1978 while the facility officially opened October 31, 1979. In 1956, the school was renamed the
School of Business; little more than a decade later, in 1969, the school once again changed its name, this time to the Graduate School of Management, a designation that reflected the demand among the business community for sophisticated managers trained in both analytical and behavioral skills. Also, this training was oriented toward general management, rather than narrowly functional skills, as had mostly been the case in many business schools for much of the 20th century. The training was designed to provide management skills suitable for leadership roles whether in the corporate, public, or nonprofit sectors – rather than careers focused solely on traditional business. To reflect this change, the school in 1969 stopped issuing the MBA credential in favor of the MM, or master of management degree. A point of differentiation for nearly three decades, the school more recently returned to the traditional MBA. These dramatic changes were predicated upon a key change under Dean John Barr (1965–1975): In 1966, Northwestern elected to discontinue its highly respected undergraduate program (the
School of Business) to focus its energies solely on graduate education. The school decided to pursue a research-based faculty. It quickly attracted a number of world-class quantitative experts, many in the field of game theory, to build the school's Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences Department. This department was founded in 1967 and initially led by Professor
Stanley Reiter.
Continued expansion: John L. Kellogg (1979–2008) In 1979, in honor of a $10 million gift made to the school on behalf of John L. Kellogg, son of
W.K. Kellogg, the school was renamed as the
J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. The funds allowed the school to significantly expand its research and teaching mission by establishing three endowed professorships; two major centers of interdisciplinary research; four research professorships; and a large dormitory. Even before the Kellogg gift, the school had been expanding its research-focused faculty: In 1978 alone, the school added six additional "named" professorships and two new research professorships.
Recent history (2009–today) In June 2009, Kellogg announced that
Dipak C. Jain would step down after eight years as dean and return to teaching. On September 1, 2009, Sunil Chopra, former Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum and Teaching and the IBM Distinguished Professor of Operations Management, assumed the role of interim dean while a search committee worked to find a permanent replacement. Later in 2009, Northwestern University announced plans to construct a new building at the northeast corner of its Evanston campus to serve as Kellogg's new home. The new facility, called the Global Hub, opened in March 2017 adjacent to Lake Michigan and includes classrooms, faculty offices, collaborative learning spaces, and administrative offices. In March 2010, Kellogg announced that
Sally Blount would replace Sunil Chopra as dean, starting in July. Blount was the dean of the undergraduate college, and vice dean of the Stern School of Business at New York University. Dean Blount launched ambitious marketing and capital campaigns. These started in 2011 with the Think Bravely campaign, and subsequently announced a new Inspiring Growth campaign in 2014. This campaign is focused on the dual meaning of creating economic value while increasing self-knowledge and insight. On February 6, 2012, Blount unveiled a seven-year plan, Envision Kellogg, aimed at restructuring the business school and launching Kellogg to the top of global rankings. As of 2018, $365 million of the campaign target of $350 million have been raised. In February 2019, Kellogg announced that
Francesca Cornelli would succeed Hagerty as dean. In November 2024, Kellogg announced plans to replace the James L. Allen Center, which has served as the home of the Kellogg School of Management's executive education programs since 1979. The new facility will be constructed on the same lakefront site on the university's North Campus in Evanston, Illinois. Designed by the New York City-based architectural firm
Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the building will include updated classrooms, meeting areas, dining spaces, and lodging accommodations. It will also be connected to the existing Kellogg Global Hub via an underground tunnel. The project is part of Kellogg's $600 million Full Circle campaign, aimed at enhancing the school's infrastructure and academic offerings. Construction began in 2025, with completion anticipated in 2027. ==Campuses==