Message From the Dean

The $85 million naming gift the Wisconsin School of Business received in Fall 2007 is a major step in our goal to provide an educational experience that transforms the lives of our students.

At the undergraduate level, our program is ranked among the top programs in the nation each year by U.S. News & World Report and continues to make great strides.

Our Wisconsin MBA is gaining increasing national recognition for our unique specialized MBA approach that produces business leaders able to achieve quickly and notably in their chosen fields. 

In Executive Education, our top-quality programs for business professionals recently were ranked number 1 in the world by the Financial Times of London  for “value for your money.”

I hope you find this overview helpful, and I encourage you to learn more about the many ways the Wisconsin School of Business aims to be out in front in all that we do.

Dean Michael M. Knetter

Faculty and Research Excellence

Our faculty earn national attention, win major awards and are ranked among the best in the nation on a variety of measures.

• Hollis Skaife's research on capital market regulation has gained national attention.
• Jan Heide has been identified as one of the most highly cited researchers in the field of marketing.
• Larry Rittenberg has been named one of the nation’s 100 most influential people in finance.
• Morris Davis is a nationally recognized expert on housing prices.

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES

• The Wisconsin School of Business is known for its strength in case competitions at both the undergraduate and MBA levels. Student teams compete —and win— against top schools around the nation.
• Business students can take advantage of 20 semester-long study abroad programs and a half-dozen summer programs.
• More than 30 business-based student organizations offer students the chance to learn about business and network with professionals.
• Business students work in cross-functional teams to compete in the G. Steven Burrill Technology Business Plan Competition, which has launched several businesses over the years.
• The Accenture Leadership Center, which opened fall 2006, offers multiple opportunities for undergraduate business students at UW-Madison to learn leadership skills outside the classroom.

ALUMNI AND CORPORATE SUPPORT

• More than 35,000 Wisconsin School of Business alumni form a global network.
• 17 industry-related advisory boards composed of more than 320 executives meet regularly to share best practices.
• Each year, more than 450 employers travel to campus to meet with School of Business students or use video conference facilities to interview undergraduates through the Business Career Center. Wisconsin MBA graduates are also highly sought after by employers.

NATIONAL RANKINGS AND HONORS

• Wisconsin’s undergraduate business program was ranked 12th in the most recent U.S. News & World Report rankings. Real Estate was ranked second, and Insurance/ Risk Management was ranked third. In all, six programs were ranked in the top 20.
• The MBA program was ranked 29th by U.S. News & World Report. BusinessWeek named the Wisconsin MBA #4 in the nation for fastest return on investment.
• Executive Education programs were ranked 28th in the world and 14th in the U.S. by the Financial Times.
• The Real Estate program at both the graduate and undergraduate level is ranked among the top handful of programs in the nation.
• Wisconsin is one of 31 universities named a national Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER).
• The Financial Times ranked the Fluno Center for Executive Education No. 1 in the world for food and accommodations in custom programs for the third year in a row.
• According to BusinessWeek, 14 of the CEOs at S&P 500 companies hold undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin, putting UW in a tie with Harvard for first place, ahead of Princeton, Stanford, Yale and the University of Texas, among others.

EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

• Executive Education, based in the Fluno Center, offers more than 220 public programs covering 80 business topics annually, as well as numerous custom programs
  for companies worldwide. It is one of the largest executive education programs in the United States.
• Programs in strategy, leadership and executive development complement
  established certificate series in areas such as basic and mid-management, project
  management, marketing, operations and supply chain management.

FACILITIES

Grainger Hall--260,000-square-foot structure includes 30 classrooms, three high-tech auditoriums with multi-media and broadcast capabilities, eight computer labs, video conference facilities and 30,000-square-foot library. A $40.5 million addition, slated to open in fall 2008, will provide a home for each of the career specializations that make up the full-time Wisconsin MBA.

Fluno Center for Executive Education--The eight-story structure features state-of-theart meeting and class rooms, auditorium, dining and banquet facilities, 100 residence rooms, fitness center and study pub with panoramic view of downtown Madison.