Amid champagne bottles, high-fives and hugs, Kellogg Graduate School of Management students and faculty celebrated Thursday their school’s No. 1 rank by BusinessWeek magazine for Executive MBA programs .
The unveiling of the magazine’s selection came less than 24 hours after another organization, the Economist Intelligence Unit, gave Kellogg the top spot among the world’s business schools. The Economist Intelligence Unit is a division of The Economist magazine.
Thursday’s announcement marked the fifth time Kellogg has received the No. 1 rank from the BusinessWeek. Kellogg beat the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, which garnered the No. 2 spot.
“It’s a wonderful testament to the hard work of the administration and the faculty, and the abilities of our students,” Kellogg Dean Dipak Jain said.
Students gathered in the atrium in the Donald P. Jacobs Center, waiting for the rankings to be released. As the schools were announced in ascending order, the excitement rose, said Saq Nadeem, president of Kellogg’s student association. Nervousness turned to celebration when Kellogg’s name was revealed.
“There was this big roar,” said Nadeem, a second-year student. “It was amazing.”
Jain pointed to Kellogg’s culture of caring, commitment, mutual trust and respect as the qualities behind rankings from both BusinessWeek and the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“It’s a ‘we’ school, not a ‘me’ school,” he said.
Administrators at Kellogg received notification Tuesday of its top rank from the Economist Intelligence Unit, which released its list Wednesday. This is the third year in a row that NU’s business school grabbed the top spot.
The Economist Intelligence Unit based its rankings of U.S. and international schools on criteria such as personal development, educational experience and networking potential. NU competed against 114 other schools. In addition to surveying students and alumni, the Economist Intelligence Unit analyzed data supplied by each school, including job placement rates.
The inclusion of student and alumni feedback speaks to the “excellent” student experience at Kellogg, said Robert Korajczyk, senior associate dean of curriculum and teaching.
“They appreciate the education they receive, and they appreciate the input they have in this school as well,” Korajczyk said.
The school’s culture of team-building assignments and student diversity contributes to a top-notch experience, said Chris McMillen, a first-year student.
“It reflects the fact that we let the students here do a lot more than other schools,” McMillen said.
Reach Angela Tablac at [email protected].
