Lindner College of Business » About the Lindner College of Business » History

History

The College of Business dates back to 1906, when the Cincinnati College of Finance, Commerce and Accounts was established. In 1912, the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees took over the college and established the College of Commerce as an integral part of the university. In 1919, the College of Commerce was merged with the College of Engineering to form the College of Engineering Commerce. In 1946, the college resumed operation as a separate entity, the College of Business, and offered its own baccalaureate. Twelve years later, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program was started, in 1966 the PhD program was added, and in 1978, a Master of Science (MS) program began.

1906

  • College of Finance, Commerce & Accounts established
  • Inaugural Business Co-op student

1912

  • College of Commerce establish
  • Frederick Hicks is appointed Dean

1919

  • Accreditation is awarded by AACSB

1946

  • College of Business Administration established
  • Francis H. Bird appointed Dean

1958

  • Inaugural MBA class
  • Kenneth Wilson appointed Dean

1966

  • Inaugural PhD class

1972

  • Albert J. Simone is appointed Dean
  • Management Development Program (Executive Education) established
  • Charter member of Small Business Institute Program

1976

  • Inaugural MS class

1979

  • Inaugural UC Executive Program (UCEP) class

1981

  • Real Estate Center established
  • Inaugural Joint MBA (JD/MBA) offered

1983

  • E. Leonard Arnoff is appointed Dean
  • Inaugural Faculty Service Award – Harold J. Grilliot Faculty Award

1986

  • Carl H. Lindner Hall is built

1988

  • Jerome E. Schnee is appointed Dean

1989

  • Goering Center for Family and Private Business established

1991

  • Inaugural Faculty Teaching Award – Michael L. Dean EXCEL Award

1993

  • Center for Productivity Improvement established
  • CoB welcomed inaugural international class from Nantes, France

1994

  • Frederick A. Russ appointed Dean

1995

  • Michael J. Magazine named first Ohio Eminent Scholar in Business

1997

  • Inaugural Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS class
  • Inaugural undergraduate CoB study-abroad class – Nantes, France
  • UC Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research established

1998

  • Inaugural off-campus MBA class –  Blue Ash
  • Inaugural master's CoB study-abroad class – Toulouse, France

1999

  • Economics Center for Education and Research joined CoB
  • Inaugural Staff Service Award – Phyllis Trosper Service Excellence Award

2000

  • CoB Faculty research ranked Top 40 – Academy of Management Journal

2001

  • Cleveland Foundation grant awarded for first distance-learning

2002

  • First video conference-enabled MBA Program first offered – Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

2003

  • Inaugural Project Fast Track – freshman experiential learning model
  • CoB ranked Top-Tier Entrepreneurial College – Entrepreneur Magazine

2004

  • Inaugural Business Scholars class

2005

  • Inaugural BBA EXTEND class
  • Will McIntosh appointed Dean

2007

  • Marianne Lewis named Director of the Kolodzik Business Scholars program
  • 10th Anniversary Carl H. Lindner Honors-PLUS Program
  • 10th Anniversary of the Center for Entrepreneurship Education & Research
  • 30th Anniversary of the Economics Center for Education & Research

2008

  • Named Top 25 undergraduate Entrepreneurship program by The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine
  • Master's students took home the top prize in the ACG Cincinnati Cup case competition

2009

  • Ranked by BusinessWeek among the top 100 in undergraduate business programs
  • Ranked by BusinessWeek in the top 10 for our undergraduate accounting program
  • Noted by The Princeton Review as one of the best 301 business schools in the 2010 edition
  • Master's students took home the top prize in the ACG Cincinnati Cup case competition for the second year in a row

2010

  • Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top 100 MBA for both the full- (71st) and part-time (83rd) programs
  • Noted by The Princeton Review as one of the best 300 business schools in the 2011 edition
  • David Szymanski named dean

2011

  • Named the Carl H. Lindner College of Business in honor of Carl H. Lindner, Jr. for his extraordinary support of the university and his legacy of entrepreneurship and excellence in business
  • Ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top 10 MBA programs for financial value upon graduation (ROI) out of 437 business schools across the nation
  • Ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top 100 MBA for both the full- (75th) and part-time (93rd) programs
  • Ranked by U.S. News & World Report at 115th among the 386 recognized undergraduate business programs
  • Ranked by BusinessWeek among the top 100 in undergraduate business programs
  • Noted by The Princeton Review as one of the best 294 business schools in the 2012 edition
  • Master's students took home the top prize in this M&A case competition for the third time in the cup's four-year history
  • Carl H. Lindner III Center for Insurance & Risk Management created
  • University of Cincinnati Center for Business Analytics created
  • Business Fellows program created to support underrepresented undergraduate students
  • Online Master of Health Administration program launched

2012

  • Lindner MBA ranked the nation’s most improved program by findyourmba.com
  • Lindner part-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 100 programs by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner ranked the #2 business school in the United States in Accounting Career for Dummies
  • Lindner named one of the country’s Top 100 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner named a Best Business School by The Princeton Review
  • Founding of Paxton Scholars program for Lindner MBA students
  • Online Master of Science in Taxation program launched
  • Master of Science in Finance program launched

2013

  • Lindner full-time MBA program ranked among the nation’s Top 100 programs by U.S. News & World Report
  • Master of Science in Business Analytics named one of the Top 20 programs in North America by InformationWeek
  • Lindner ranked one of the country’s Top 100 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner named a Best Business School by The Princeton Review
  • Lindner “Center of Centers” opens in $80-million U-Square complex
  • Bearcat Launchpad, one of the nation’s first student-led business accelerator programs, takes off
  • Lindner Women in Business student organization founded
  • Lindner launches one of the nation’s first MOOC2Degrees programs
  • Online Master of Health Informatics program created

2014

  • Lindner full-time MBA program earns the highest rankings jump of any MBA program in the country in U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner part-time MBA program earns the highest rankings jump of any MBA program in the country in U.S. News & World Report
  • Recruiters rated the Lindner MBA one of the nation’s Top 10 public programs in Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 50 programs by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner online MBA ranked among the Top 50 online MBA programs in the country by Affordable Colleges Online
  • Lindner Master of Science in Finance ranked #7 in the nation among the best, most affordable programs by Master of Finance Degrees
  • Lindner ranked one of the country’s Top 100 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner library ranked #8 Most Impressive Business School Library in the United States by Business Research Guide
  • Lindner named a Best Business School by The Princeton Review
  • 100% online Master of Business Administration program launched

2015

  • Lindner MBA ranked the #1 best value MBA program in the United States based on its academic quality, job placement success and tuition affordability by College Atlas
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #38 fully-online MBA program in the United States by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner part-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 50 programs by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 50 programs by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner part-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 65 programs by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 70 programs by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner Master of Science in Taxation ranked the #1 public online graduate taxation program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner Master of Science in Accounting ranked #8 in the nation by Public Accounting Report
  • Lindner undergraduate Accounting program ranked #13 in the nation by Public Accounting Report
  • Lindner named one of the nation’s Top 100 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner named a Best Business School by The Princeton Review
  • Debut of dedicated co-op services within Lindner Career Services

2016

  • Lindner full-time MBA program earns the highest three-year rankings jump of any full-time MBA program in the country in U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner part-time MBA program earns the highest three-year rankings jump of any part-time MBA program in the country in U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #11 best value online MBA program in the country by College Values Online
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #14 online MBA programs in North America by CEO Magazine
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #18 online MBA program in the country by TheBestSchools.org
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #31 fully-online MBA program in the United States by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked the #63 MBA program in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked the #63 MBA program in the country by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner part-time MBA ranked among the nation’s Top 100 programs by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner Master of Science in Taxation ranked the #4 online graduate taxation program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner ranked the #22 school in the country producing the most Fortune 500 CEOs by BestColleges.com
  • Lindner ranked one of the country’s Top 100 undergraduate business schools by Bloomberg Businessweek
  • The UC Board of Trustees approved a new building for the Lindner College of Business. The new building is supported by an $11 million gift by the family of the late Carl H. Lindner Jr. and American Financial Group, Inc.

2017

  • Groundbreaking held for new Lindner College of Business building. The new four story, 225,000-square foot facility will open in fall 2019
  • Lindner part-time MBA earns the highest four-year rankings jump of any part-time MBA program in the United States in U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner full-time MBA earns one of the Top Five four-year rankings jumps of any full-time MBA program in the United States in U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner online MBA ranked the #19 fully-online public program in the country by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner full-time MBA ranked one of the Top 50 public MBA programs in the United States by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner part-time MBA ranked one of the Top 40 public MBA programs in the United States by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner Master of Science in Taxation ranked the #4 public online graduate taxation program in the nation by U.S. News & World Report
  • Lindner online MBA ranked one of the Top 25 programs in North America by CEO Magazine

2019

  • Marianne Lewis is named dean of the Lindner College of Business, becoming the first woman to lead the college.
a group of people in professional business attire stand outside a large building on a red and black carpet

Donors, elected officials and supporters of the Lindner College of Business at the September 18 Grand Opening Gala. / Left to right: Peter Landgren, Phil Collins, William C. "Wym" Portman III, Craig Lindner, Carl Lindner III, Martha Lindner, Dean Marianne Lewis, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, UC President Neville Pinto, Jennifer Pinto, John Cranley, Margaret "Peg" Valentine, Thomas Mischell, UC Provost Kristi Nelson.

2020

  • Lindner faculty and staff, along with the rest of the University of Cincinnati, complete historic academic undertaking in response to COVID-19 during the spring 2020 semester. The Lindner College of Business alone converted more than 550 face-to-face courses to remote and distance learning methods of delivery in the middle of the semester.

    “Our pivot has showcased collaborative problem-solving,” said Marianne Lewis, dean of the Lindner College of Business. “It has been remarkably smooth and insightful — thanks to faculty, staff and students working together. And such agile learning mirrors critical business needs. The experience will better prepare our students for their careers and our college for changes in business education.”