UIUC College of Business - College History

College History

The University Senate approved the College of Commerce and Business Administration on June 9, 1914 at the request of David Kinley, a University Vice-President who would later serve as President of the University of Illinois. The College was officially formed on April 27, 1915 through a vote of the University of Illinois (UI) Board of Trustees (see governance in higher education). The college began with three departments: Economics, Business Organization and Operation, and Transportation. The college underwent a major reorganization which began in 1951. At the time, several faculty from economics wanted their department housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS). The proposal failed and the department stayed within the college until 2003 at which time it found a home in the College of LAS. In the same year, the college changed its name to the College of Business.

In 1913, prior to the College's formation, representatives of the University met in Madison, Wisconsin along with representatives from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of California, Berkeley to establish the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society. The College has continued its involvement with the honor society and H. T. Scovill, a former accountancy professor and head of the Department of Business Organization and Operation, has previously served as the society's president.