Through the Years
A chronological snapshot of the Krannert School from its origins to the present day

Celebrating a Half-Centery of Excellence

In 1957, Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” topped the music charts, the Soviet Union launched the space age with Sputnik, the Eisenhower Doctrine drew a line in the sand against communism, and the words of poet Allen Ginsberg and other “beatniks” made a generation of youth howl for change.

That same year, with much less fanfare but an equal level of commitment, a hardy group of 29 young men also emerged from a little-known annex of Stanley Coulter Hall as graduates of Purdue University’s first master’s degree program in management.

Some remained in academia, including longtime Krannert professor Arnie Cooper. Others found a calling in public service, such as the late Kirk Fordice, former governor of Mississippi. And many went on to distinguished careers as entrepreneurs, leaders of Fortune 500 companies, or success in similar business ventures. All made a difference. And the march they began with their commencement continued.

Undergraduate and doctoral programs were added in 1958, and in less than five years the School of Management became the University’s first endowed school with a multimillion-dollar gift from Herman and Ellnora Krannert. In addition to a name, the Krannerts’ generosity soon provided the school with its own building — adding to a foundation that grew stronger with each successive class of graduates.

Perennially ranked among the best business schools in the nation, Krannert today enrolls more than 3,000 students in nearly a dozen undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs housed in a complex of three state-of-the-art facilities. Its faculty boasts some of the top scholars and researchers in their fields, while the school’s network of more than 30,000 alumni includes leaders in business, government, and academia.

Below, we celebrate the excellence that Krannert has established in a 50-year history that continues to be written. Join us in not only looking back, but also in moving forward.

1933
Dean O. Bowman becomes Purdue’s first graduate to receive a bachelor’s degree in economics. The following year he receives the first Purdue MS degree granted in economics.

1938
Jay W. Wiley comes to Purdue as an instructor in the Department of History, Economics, and Government, which mainly teaches service courses for students in the schools of Agriculture and Science and in the Schools of Engineering. Wiley’s Purdue career spans 44 years; he retires from Krannert in 1982 as professor emeritus of economics.

1953
Economics splits from Purdue’s Department of History, Economics and Government to become the Department of Economics in the School of Science, Education and Humanities. President Fredrick L. Hovde hires Emanuel T. Weiler from the University of Illinois to head the new department.

1956
Purdue establishes the Department of Industrial Management and Transportation within the Schools of Engineering. Weiler heads both this new department and the economics department, thus having administrative responsibilities in two different schools. Ronald Stucky is the assistant to the head of industrial management.

A Master of Science in Industrial Manage-ment degree (MSIM; later renamed Master of Science in Industrial Administration — MSIA) is proposed to and accepted by the faculty and the graduate school. The first class in the new MSIM program is recruited. The class consisits largely of graduates from the Purdue engineering schools. Emanuel Weiler recruits John S. Day from Harvard to help launch the MSIM program.

1957
Twenty-nine men compose the first class to graduate from the management master’s degree program. The average age is 26; over 50 percent are married. Among the graduates of this class is Arnold C. Cooper, who later joins the Krannert faculty after completing doctoral studies at Harvard. Cooper serves as director of Krannert’s professional master’s programs from 1985–87.

Professor Lawrence Senesh is appointed the nation’s first professor of economics education.

1958
The School of Industrial Management is formed from the Department of Economics in the School of Science, Education, and Humanities and the Department of Industrial Management and Transportation in the Schools of Engineering. This new school is headed by Emanuel Weiler and authorized to offer both graduate and undergraduate degrees. The doctoral program in economics and the Bachelor of Science in Industrial Management (BSIM) program are established. The MSIM curriculum is reviewed, resulting in the addition of two semesters of calculus as an entrance requirement. The faculty also adopt as part of the master’s program core the Managerial Policy Reports course, making Purdue’s graduate business program one of the first in the country to require a course specifically for the development of written communications skills.

1959
The School of Management forms the Institute for Quantitative Research in Economics and Management, which receives a $250,000 Ford Foundation grant matched by additional funds from the University for research support in the doctoral programs.

1960
The first relationships with Herman C. Krannert begin to develop. Referred to Emanuel Weiler for advice regarding his Indianapolis-based firm, Inland Container Corporation, Krannert approves a management development program for his executives, to be taught by Purdue faculty.

1961
The Purdue Graduate School assigns to the School of Management the administrative responsibility for the interdisciplinary graduate program in industrial relations, renamed the Master of Science in Human Resource Management program in 1985.

The University awards its first doctoral degrees in economics. The first BSIM degrees are awarded to 80 students. Approximately 95 percent of the BSIM class of 1961 are transfers from the Schools of Engineering.

1962
The Krannert Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Purdue’s first endowed school, is established with a $2.73 million gift from Herman C. and Ellnora Decker Krannert to provide a new building and trust fund.

The Master of Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA) replaces the Master of Science in Industrial Management. There are 46 faculty members on the staff of the Krannert School.

1964
The school introduces a cooperative management education program that alternates semesters of class work on campus with semesters of paid employment at host firms.

1965
Classes move from Stanley Coulter Hall to the newly completed Krannert Building. George P. Baker, dean of the Harvard Business School, delivers the keynote address at dedication ceremonies attended by state and University dignitaries as well as by the school’s benefactor, Herman Krannert.

1966
Faculty and the Graduate Council approve a PhD in management science.

1967
The American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) votes unanimously to accredit and grant full membership to the Krannert School of Industrial Administration.

Ellen Day is the first woman to be enrolled as a full-time student in the MSIA program. Computer science surpasses engineering as the most popular technical option in the BSIM program.

Krannert sponsors its first alumni management conference, attended by 100 graduates. The conference marks the 10th anniversary of the MSIA program. The results of a questionnaire show that the present salaries of MSIA alumni average more than $1,000 a month and that nearly six percent of them earn $20,000 to $30,000 a year.

1968
Emanuel Weiler decides to resign as dean, effective October 1, and return to teaching and writing. The MSIA program expands to three full sections. Professor Robert W. Johnson receives the first Salgo-Noren Award for teaching excellence in the master’s program.

The Business Opportunity Program (BOP) is established to give underrepresented management students a head start on their freshman year at Purdue. This program is one of the first at a major U.S. business school aimed at attracting minority undergraduates to business careers, and the first program of its kind at Purdue. There are 11 students in the initial BOP summer session.

1969
John S. Day succeeds Emanuel Weiler as dean of the Krannert Graduate School of Management and undergraduate School of Management. Weiler is named Herman C. Krannert Distinguished Professor of Management and Economics.

Alumni organize the Krannert Alumni Foundation with Robert L. Cattell (MSIA 1968) serving as the first elected chairman of the foundation board.

1970
To date, more than 2,000 baccalaureate degrees have been awarded by the School of Industrial Management. An economics major for undergraduates is established in the school.

1971
Peter V. Harrington is appointed director of Economics Education Projects for the Purdue Economic Advisory Council, later reorganized as the Indiana Council for Economic Education.

1972
The Best Graduate Instructor Award is initiated. Wide ties and colored shirts have replaced the dark suits and narrow ties worn by more than a decade of master’s students, but the days of the Krannert dress code are numbered.

1974
The Credit Research Center (CRC) is founded with Professor Robert W. Johnson as director. CRC is a unique nonprofit organization engaged in research on public policy as it relates to consumer mortgage credit markets. The center’s research findings are used by regulatory agencies, legislatures, consumer groups, and the courts.

1975
James F. Bere, chairman and chief executive officer of Borg-Warner Corporation, delivers the first Distinguished Executive Lecture to entering master’s students.

1976
The Purdue University Board of Trustees approves the change in the name of the schools to the Krannert Graduate School of Management and School of Management.

The faculty grows to more than 85 full-time and part-time professors and lecturers.

An accounting option designed by Professor Charles Lawrence is introduced in the undergraduate program.

A total of 150 men and 47 women enter the MSIA and MS in management programs for fall semester. The first special July commencement is held for MSIA and MS graduates.

1977
Dean John Day serves as president of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business.

1978
A symposium held on two days in January honors Emanuel Weiler for his 25 years at Purdue.

John Day resigns the deanship to assume duties as Purdue’s vice president of development. Professor Wilbur Lewellen is named acting dean.

1979
Keith V. Smith (PhD 1966), the first alumnus to head the school, is appointed Krannert’s third dean. He has been associate dean at UCLA’s graduate school of business.

The first Emanuel Thornton Weiler Outstanding Student Award is presented to John M. Corbett for his academic performance in the undergraduate management program.

The Krannert Alumni Foundation initiates the Distinguished Alumnus Award to be presented at July graduation; the first recipient is Norman R. Weldon (MSIA 1962, PhD 1964).

1980
National accounting honorary Beta Alpha Psi is installed. An MSIA/MS class of 144 students enters Krannert.

The first in a continuing series of exhibitions from corporate art collections opens in the Krannert Drawing Room.

The Krannert Charitable Trust funds $3 million for construction of a new executive education building. Under the direction of Professor Andrew B. Whinston, the Management Information Research Center is established with the assistance of a generous grant from IBM Corporation.

1981
A survey of CEOs of the country’s largest businesses, conducted by Arthur Young consultants, rates the Krannert School 10th as a source of management talent.

1982
Dean Keith Smith announces his intention to return to a full-time faculty position in the school.

Krannert launches the Campaign for Distinction to raise $5.5 million for development of executive education and research programs as well as to furnish and equip the Krannert Center for Executive Education and Research.

1983
The Krannert Center is formally dedicated on October 21. Frank T. Cary, chairman of the executive committee and former chief executive officer of IBM Corporation, delivers the dedication address. Ceremonies are attended by industry, University, and state dignitaries, including Governor Robert B. Orr and Ball Corporation president Richard B. Ringoen.

In June, the school inaugurates its first degree granting executive education program. Professor Dan E. Schendel is the director of executive education.

The Krannert Graduate Students Association (KGSA) is established. Steven Ruppel, MSM, is elected KGSA’s first president.

Dennis J. Weidenaar, professor of economics, is appointed acting dean.

The Center for Tax Policy Studies, under the direction of economics professor James A. Papke, is founded. Its purpose is to provide research-based analysis and expertise on taxation and related budget issues to governments, firms, and the public in Indiana and other Great Lakes states.

1984
Ronald E. Frank, associate dean at the Wharton School, assumes the duties of dean of the Krannert Graduate School of Management and School of Management on July 1. He is Krannert’s fourth dean.

The Credit Research Center and the Indiana Council for Economic Education celebrate 10th and 30th anniversaries, respectively.

1985
The undergraduate economics major is now jointly sponsored and supervised by the Krannert School and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Professor Wilbur Lewellen is appointed director of executive education programs. More than 100 managers are enrolled in the two executive master’s programs. At Purdue’s December commencement ceremonies, 39 executive program participants from the first General Electric and multi-firm classes are awarded master’s degrees.

The Master of Science in Industrial Relations program, established in 1958 and administered jointly with other Purdue departments, is revamped, renamed Master of Science in Human Resources Management (MSHRM), and brought wholly within the Krannert School.

1986
The Schools of Engineering and the Krannert School join forces to offer the Purdue Engineering/Management program, a residential short course drawing experienced engineers, scientists, and technical managers from 28 corporations.

The Krannert Alumni Foundation is reorganized under a new constitution as the Krannert School Alumni Association (KSAA) to embrace bachelor’s as well as master’s and doctoral graduates of the school. The alumni board of directors increases to 25 members. More than 16,000 people are graduates of the Krannert School’s degree programs.

1987
MBA Magazine ranks Krannert 17th among 50 leading graduate schools of business for 1986 graduates’ starting salaries.

The first Dalton-Krannert Case Competition for undergraduates is held, sponsored by Jack U. Dalton (BSIM 1965), founder and chief executive officer of Kolpak Industries.

1988
The Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises is formally launched. Guest speakers include Owen Bieber, president of the International Union, United Automobile Workers, and Richard Teerlink, president of Harley-Davidson Inc., Motorcycle Division. The center has three main purposes: to foster an educational program offering an undergraduate minor in manufacturing management, to identify a major research agenda, and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between the Krannert School and industry.

Purdue alumnus Burton D. Morgan provides funds for the first Burton D. Morgan Entrepreneurial Competition. First place and $5,000 goes to three Krannert master’s students — Karen Berezinski, Frank Herby, and Daniel Golles — for their proposal to establish day-care centers in shopping malls.

1989
The IBM Organizational Behavior/Human Resource Management Computer Laboratory is dedicated on February 23. The lab, which was the result of a $640,000 gift from IBM’s Personnel Group, provides hands-on learning for undergraduate and graduate students at the Krannert School.

1990
Dennis Weidenaar becomes the fifth dean of the Krannert School on January 1. A faculty member since 1966 and most recently associate dean, he replaces Ronald Frank, who resigned in October 1989.

The Krannert School’s professional master’s degree programs are ranks 19th among U.S. business and professional schools by U.S.News & World Report. Krannert ranks fifth among schools offering production management specializations.

1991
BusinessWeek rates Krannert’s Executive Master’s program 13th nationwide. The program is also lauded for its computerized communications linkage between students and faculty.

1992
The Management Volunteer Program (MVP) is created by master’s degree students Beth Bricker and Tom Clepfel. About 40 students volunteer through the MVP Program to provide assistance each week to a number of charitable institutions in the Lafayette–West Lafayette area.

Krannert master’s students Alexander Legall, Helen Rowe, and Jothany Sharp win the first annual Case Study Analysis and Presentation Competition sponsored by the National Black MBA Association. The competition is hosted by the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University.

Purdue University is announced as a winner in the Motorola University Challenge competition. As a result, 100 faculty members from the schools of management, engineering, and technology are invited to spend a week at Motorola University to interact with executives and managers responsible for implementing quality programs.

1993
Two options are added to the Krannert master’s programs: manufacturing technology management and international management. MSIA students are offered four electives rather than two; MSM candidates can choose from nine electives rather than six; and MSHRM candidates choose from 14 credit hours of electives rather than three. The changes were generated from feedback by Krannert students and recruiters.

1994
For the first time, the Krannert Annual Fund tops the $1 million mark, finishing at $1,301,506. Alumni successfully meet and exceed the $100,000 challenge of David Fuente, as management alumni increase their giving 52 percent over the previous year.

1995
The Weekend Executive Master’s program is launched in response to requests of local business leaders. The fully accredited program is structured with a three-year, Saturday-only schedule, with students acquiring a total of 48 credit hours for graduation.

The Executive Master’s program begins a collaboration with ESC Rouen in Paris. It becomes the first joint venture of its kind between a U.S. and European business school, with shared administration, and culminating in an accredited master’s degree in management.

Krannert School undergraduate programs place No. 11 in U.S.News & World Report rankings. The school is rated second in operations/production management and third in quantitative analysis. Undergraduate students also are offered an international business and economics option for the first time.

1996
The Krannert School is ranked by Computerworld as the No. 8 “Techno MBA” program in the nation. Techno MBA programs are noted for combining business and computer technology courses to produce information systems leaders.

1997
Arnold Cooper, the Louis A. Weil Jr. Professor in Management, receives the 1997 International Award for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Research. He donates the monetary portion of the award, $50,000, for management student scholarships.

Krannert alum Richard Hansen donates $100,000 to the school to start the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF). Master’s students at the Krannert School actively manage an investment portfolio with the funds, gaining a practical understanding of money management.

1998
Richard E. Dauch, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president of American Axle & Manufacturing, his wife, Sandy, and their family announce a $6 million gift to Purdue. The Dauch family gift of $5 million to the Krannert School serves as the anchor gift to begin the $55 million Krannert at the Frontier Campaign. In honor of the gift, the Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises is renamed the Dauch Center for the Management of Manufacturing Enterprises (DCMME). The Krannert campaign calls for a new building to expand Krannert’s facilities, faculty and outreach development, and student scholarships and programs.

More than 50 doctoral candidates from Purdue’s schools of agriculture, engineering, pharmacy, science, technology, and veterinary medicine come to the Krannert School for a program administered by Krannert Executive Education Programs. The Applied Management Principles (AMP) program provides some business knowledge that technical PhD candidates need to succeed in careers outside of academe. The course is supported by grants from the Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation.

1999

Richard A. Cosier becomes dean of the Krannert School on August 1. Formerly dean of the University of Oklahoma’s Michael F. Price College of Business, he succeeds Dennis Weidenaar, who returns to teaching and research.

The Krannert School exports its flagship Master of Science in Industrial Administration (MSIA) program to Hannover, Germany. A partnership between Purdue and a German foundation results in the German International Graduate School of Management and Administration (GISMA). Under the agreement, Krannert professors travel to Germany to give students a U.S.-style MBA education. The foundation, supported by the state of Lower Saxony, individual donors, and corporate sponsors, agrees to pay Purdue $27 million over the first five years of a 10-year contract. Professor Dan Schendel is named GISMA dean.

A total of 100 undergraduate students from the Krannert School attend the first Barbara Doster Leadership Forum in Indianapolis. Named in honor of the school’s retired director of management programs and sponsored by the School of Management Council, the forum helps students improve their “soft skills” by focusing on leadership development.

2000
Jerry Rawls, president and chief executive officer of Finisar Corp. and a 1968 Krannert master’s alum, pledges $10 million to the Krannert at the Frontier Campaign. The gift is the largest in Krannert history and one of the largest at Purdue. In recognition of his generosity, the Purdue Board of Trustees votes to name the new Krannert facility Jerry S. Rawls Hall.

2001
The Master of Science in Management (MSM) degree is officially changed to a Master of Business Administration (MBA). The name change, which does not require any change in curriculum, is made to conform to other top business schools.

The first Krannert Leadership Speakers Series event is held in Carmel, Indiana, and features a keynote address from basketball legend and author Bill Russell. More than 400 people attend the event, which is supported by the Krannert School Alumni Association. Jerry Semler, the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of American United Life Insurance, receives the first Krannert Business Leadership Award for his corporate and community activities.

Formal groundbreaking ceremonies are held for Rawls Hall. The building receives an award before construction begins, as AS&U magazine’s Architectural Portfolio Awards honor the open design and layout of the center space.

2002
MBA students Dan Gertner and Tuan Tran take first place in the growth-fund category at the University of Dayton Redefining Investment Strategy Fund (RISE) competition. Their win is based on a presentation and the performance of the Krannert Student Managed Investment Fund. The pair is interviewed on CNBC and featured in BusinessWeek.

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh discusses corporate responsibility and ethics with a group of undergraduate Krannert students on the West Lafayette campus. The Krannert School brings several speakers to campus to discuss ethics in the wake of national scandals. Among them is Jack Beatty, senior editor with Atlantic Monthly, who covers Enron and ethics during the Lilly Endowment Entrepreneurial Speakers Series.

2003 Several Krannert faculty members hold a reception for Vernon Smith, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who launched his groundbreaking research at Purdue. A seventh-floor laboratory in the Krannert Building is named in Smith’s honor.

Through the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, the Krannert School conducts the first Purdue Life Sciences Business Plan Competition. A total of 46 teams from around the country compete for $147,000 in prize money, with $100,000 coming from lead sponsor Roche Diagnostics Corp. The winning entry, formed by principals from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Rochester, develops an application that allows early detection of eye diseases.

Jerry S. Rawls Hall opens for fall semester classes. On October 2, the Krannert School dedicates Rawls Hall. The baseball-themed ceremony includes the reading of letters from President George W. Bush and Senators Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar, and a “first pitch” from lead donor Jerry Rawls. That evening, Tim Russert of NBC’s Meet the Press is the keynote speaker for the Krannert Leadership Speakers Series before a sold-out crowd at the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms.

2004
The Krannert School is ranked a No. 1 MBA program by The Wall Street Journal in its annual survey of recruiters. Krannert finishes ahead of 43 other schools that have a concentration of recruiters from a regional geographic area.

Krannert begins an Undergraduate Enhancement Program, which includes an Undergraduate Management Communications Center. Students are encouraged to use the center to improve their presentation skills.

The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship in Purdue’s Discovery Park is dedicated. Krannert Dean Rick Cosier is director of the center, which teams with the Lilly Endowment to conduct Opportunity for Indiana Business Plan Competitions in three Indiana locations.

2005
For the second straight year, Krannert is ranked a No. 1 MBA program by The Wall Street Journal, this time besting 46 other schools listed in the regional category. U.S.News & World Report ranks the Krannert School undergraduate program No. 12, its highest placement in a decade.

Krannert professors Bill Lewellen and John McConnell are named among the top 10 prolific finance professors over the last 50 years in a study published in the Journal of Financial Literature. Professors David Denis and Keith Smith also place among the top six percent of researchers in the study.

MBA students have three new interdisciplinary study options in global supply-chain management, analytical consulting, and technological innovation and entrepreneurship.

2006
The administration structure of the MBA and Krannert Executive Education Programs (KEEP) is combined to better serve the needs of students and employers. Bill Lewellen, who has served as director of KEEP since 1985, returns full-time to the faculty. Professor Jerry Lynch is named academic director of full-time and executive education master’s programs.

Krannert undergraduate and graduate students travel to China through agreements the school signs with three Chinese universities as part of Purdue’s Asian Initiative. The agreements with Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University, and Beijing University call for a range of programs, including education, research, and faculty and student exchanges.

2007
The Krannert School portion of the $1.7 billion Campaign for Purdue finishes at $93.8 million, 12 percent better than its goal of $83.4 million. The school privately funds Rawls Hall and 10 new faculty chairs during the campaign.

Krannert junior Liz Lehmann becomes the first female to win the Purdue Grand Prix go-kart race.