Home > Update > December 2006 > On Campus

Women on Campus:
90 Years after First Female Graduate

This spring, the School of Business will reach a landmark —the 90th anniversary of its first woman graduate. In 1917, Mary McNulty became the first woman to graduate from the Commerce Program, which began in 1900. If Ms. McNulty were enrolled today, she’d have many female colleagues. As of fall 2006, female business students at the undergraduate level made up more than 38 percent of those enrolled. In the full-time Wisconsin MBA program, women make up 32 percent of the student body.

Last January, a new student group was formed, Women in Business. There had not been an undergraduate women’s business group on campus for more than 10 years. Open to students from all majors with an interest in business, it has 60 members. According to Jennifer Albert, the group’s president, it was formed out of the desire to have “some way to connect and empower women in pursuing careers in business. We really hope to create a powerful network of the women here on campus, and form a strong and useful alumni network as more and more members graduate.” Women in Business is part of the 85 Broads network, an international co-mentoring program that links professional women at all levels.

At the graduate level, the School of Business has an active local chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs, a group dedicated to promoting women in business and increasing the opportunities for women MBAs. The group promotes networking and professional development for graduate women of the School of Business and collaborates with the school’s Women in Business Council, which links the School of Business to women in the business community. This August, the 2nd Annual Women in Business Council Golf Outing raised more than $10,000 for MBA scholarships.

For more on women in business, see the article on the recent Women’s Executive Leadership Summit.