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College celebrates 40th anniversary

How business began at Iowa State University

As seen in the fall 2024 Ivy magazine.

In the 1920s, there was no business college at Iowa State University or a business curriculum. What would later become the business curriculum started in the Department of Economics and offered a handful of basic business courses as a service function to other academic units.

By the 1929–1930 academic year, this limited menu included courses in finance, investments, and investment analysis – ironically, just in time for the stock market crash and the Great Depression. However, respect for business as a legitimate academic pursuit would have to wait until the late 1930s, when industrial economics became a major in the Department of Economics and Sociology.

This remained the case throughout the Great Depression and World War II. Classes were taught in Marston Hall, then the Industrial Arts building on the west side of campus.

When the war ended, business education assumed a new urgency in America. Millions of returning veterans were re-entering the workforce. The GI Bill provided educational benefits, enabling millions of former servicemen to pursue educational opportunities previously available only to families of means. Industry needed a vastly larger managerial class to direct a rapidly expanding economy.

Despite the growing need, business studies at Iowa State still took a back seat to the school’s traditional emphases in agriculture and engineering. The growing program pushed for status as an autonomous department within the college’s Division of Science. It would finally come in 1955 when the Department of Industrial Administration was born.

Birth of BusinessIn 1969, the department finally moved into the new Carver Hall. The new facility, combined with explosive enrollment growth, promoted the desire for leaders to explore accreditation to establish a school of business.

In 1980, Iowa State welcomed the School of Business Administration into the College of Sciences and Humanities. With five departments and more than 2,000 students, the school was merely a short stop on the road to becoming a college.

On July 1, 1984, the College of Business Administration was officially born at Iowa State University. The word “Administration” was later dropped.

40 years of the college

During its 40-year history, the college has evolved into a comprehensive business program. For a relatively young college, it has a remarkable string of accomplishments.

  • Enrollment has steadily increased. What was once a small business program with just a few hundred students now has thousands of students. Fall 2023 enrollment reached 4,820 students.
  • Since becoming a college in 1984, the number of undergraduate majors has increased from six to 14.
  • The MBA (called industrial administration sciences) was launched in 1974 and was the first graduate program. This was before the college was formed.
  • Since 1984, the number of master’s degrees has increased from one to nine in 2024.
  • The Iowa State University MBA program was created in 1985. It expanded into the Des Moines market in 1999, with part-time classes offered in the evenings. In 2024, the professional program also became available 100 percent online.
  • In 2009, the college welcomed the inaugural class of students into its PhD in business and technology program. The number of specializations has increased from three to six, and includes entrepreneurship, finance, information systems and business analytics, management, marketing, and supply chain management.
  • In 2024, the MBA program was ranked #50 in the United States.
  • In 2024, the number of business students who participated in internships has also steadily increased, with 1,454 students reporting their internships, which are not required.
  • The college is the host institution for Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers and the Iowa State University Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, which serves hundreds of small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout the state.
  • The college is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International) in business and accounting. Only two percent of the world’s business schools receive accreditation in both business and accounting.
  • The Ivy College of Business is the destination school for Iowans to receive an undergraduate business education. No other business school in Iowa welcomes more Iowa high school graduates.

Another anniversary – 20 years of Gerdin

  • Breaking-Ground-on-the-Gerdin-SiteThe Gerdin Business Building opened for use in 2004. The 111,000-square-foot facility allowed the College of Business to claim its own space on the southeast edge of central campus.
  • The $25 million building was made possible through a $10 million gift from Russ and Ann Gerdin. Russ Gerdin (1941–2011) was the founder and CEO of Heartland Express, a national truckload carrier in North Liberty, Iowa.
  • Despite experiencing a global pandemic, a 45,000-square- foot expansion was added to the original building in 2020. The seamless designs make it difficult for visitors to see where the new addition begins. BNIM of Des Moines and Story Construction of Ames were the design-build team for the addition, which was constructed on the east side of the Gerdin Business Building, facing Wallace Road. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in November 2020. Classes were taught in the new addition starting in January 2021.
  • The Gerdin family continued to support the college’s growth by donating another $7 million gift for a building expansion.
  • The $28 million addition was designed with students in mind and includes more classrooms, a multi-purpose space, study areas, a designated sales suite, and faculty offices.

Stay tuned!

A college-wide celebration was held on October 22 to celebrate these milestones. Highlights and photos will be shared in the spring 2025 issue of Ivy magazine.

October 23, 2024

 

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