Kellogg School of Management Dean Sally Blount announced plans to open two new international campuses during recent presentations to students and faculty.
Kellogg currently has campuses in Evanston, Chicago and Miami. It also offers joint degrees with four universities in China, Israel, Canada and Germany, said University spokesperson Al Cubbage.
“Certainly the Kellogg name is a well-established name, and the visibility helps Northwestern internationally,” Cubbage said.
São Paulo, Shanghai and Beijing are highly favored among a list of 10 potential cities to host the new campuses, according to a Jan. 16 article in Crain’s Chicago Business.
MBA candidate Saurav Chawla, who is from India, said Kellogg’s renown in his home country was one of the reasons he decided to pursue his studies there. He said he thinks opening international campuses in South America and China would be a wise move for the business school.
“For the Kellogg brand to grow further, it needs to have its presence in the emerging markets,” Chawla said.
The new initiative is one among many of Blount’s efforts to return Kellogg to its former preeminence among business schools. Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Kellogg number one in the full time MBA category for 15 years after the ranking’s inception in 1991, until the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business surpassed Kellogg in 2006. Kellogg currently holds fourth place in the full time MBA ranking, and dropped from first to third in the executive MBA ranking last year. Blount could not be reached for comment.
Kellogg student Heath Hunter, a first-year MBA candidate, said the planned expansion is vital if Kellogg wants to be a premier global business institution in the next decade.
“In the next five to 10 years, the conversation will move from, ‘Who are the best U.S. business schools’ to, ‘Who are the best global business schools,'” Hunter said. “We are getting a head start on establishing a strong global footprint.”
Blount is also spearheading a new Evanston building for Kellogg, slated for completion in 2016. The school will move out of its current location in the Jacobs Center once the new building is complete.
Blount said in her blog the new building will give Kellogg a competitive edge against other business schools.
“New technology and research on adult learning have advanced significantly in recent years and will continue to do so,” Blount wrote. “These advances will influence much of our building design and how we conceptualize a dynamic learning environment.”
Cubbage said although Kellogg has been expanding and developing its own brand, the business school and the University have been on the same page in the decision-making process and have grown closer in recent years.
Northwestern’s first and only international campus opened in Qatar in 2008. Students there can pursue a bachelor of science in journalism or communication. The Qatar campus will graduate its first class in May.
Although the opening of the Qatar campus has been a successful venture, the University currently has no plans to open new undergraduate campuses, Cubbage said.
