Our History: Kelley Indianapolis 50th Anniversary: Indiana University Indianapolis

Half a century of Kelley Indianapolis

The Indiana University Kelley School of Business has a rich legacy on the Indianapolis and Bloomington campuses. We began in 1920 as the School of Commerce and Finance in Bloomington and became one Kelley School on two campuses with the opening of the School of Business in Indianapolis in 1974.

Since then, Kelley Indianapolis has become the city's business school. We've re-envisioned business education to cultivate bold leaders. We've tackled big questions and uncovered new solutions with innovative research that drives meaningful change, and we've built collaborations across industries and communities for greater economic empowerment.

Step back in time to discover how the Kelley School has shaped business in Indianapolis.

1970s

1974: The School of Business, operating in Bloomington and Indianapolis, adopts a new vision of “one mission, one curriculum, one faculty in two locations.” Nearly 1,100 students are enrolled at the School of Business Indianapolis this year.

1975: Associate Dean Howard G. Schaller is the primary facilitator for the merger of the school's Indianapolis and Bloomington operations and is named chief academic officer responsible for Indianapolis programs. He is later appointed Executive Dean and IUPUI Dean of Faculties in 1982.

1975: The school’s faculty and staff move from IUPUI’s 38th Street campus to the main campus downtown. The Indiana General Assembly approves bonding for an $8 million building that will be the new home of the School of Business.

1977: Integrated Core, or I-Core, is offered in the Undergraduate Program for the first time.

1978: The JD/MBA dual degree is launched in partnership with the School of Law Indianapolis.

1978: Ground is broken for the 115,700 square foot, four-story building that will house the School of Business.

1980s

1981: The new School of Business building, shared with the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, is dedicated.

1983: The Executive MBA Program is launched and soon garners praise in Businessweek as one of the top programs of its kind in the nation.

1985: American United Life endows a $1 million chair, the first gift of its kind for the School of Business Indianapolis.

1987: Management and entrepreneurship professor R. Thomas Lenz is named associate dean of Indianapolis programs. He is the first Indianapolis-based faculty member to hold this appointment.

1988: Maureen F. Crickmore, BS’88, MBA’89, receives the first J. Dwight Peterson Key Award—the highest honor bestowed to an undergraduate business student on the Indianapolis campus.

1990s

1993: Accounting professor John G. Helmkamp is named associate dean of Indianapolis programs.

1997: Entrepreneur and philanthropist E.W. “Ed” Kelley, BS’39, donates more than $23 million—the largest gift in Indiana University’s history—to the School of Business. The school is named the Kelley School of Business in honor of Kelley, who is chairman of Consolidated Products Inc., which owns the Steak ’n Shake restaurant chain.

1997: Kelley Indianapolis dedicates a state-of-the-art, teleconference global classroom.

1998: Operations and decision technologies professor Roger W. Schmenner is named associate dean for Indianapolis programs.

1998: The Master of Professional Accountancy is launched. In later years, the degree is renamed Master of Science in Accounting.

1999: The Kelley Direct Online MBA begins in Indianapolis with 18 students. It is the first online MBA from a top-tier business school.

1999: Kelley Indianapolis forms the Board of Visitors with 33 business leaders who will focus on the Kelley brand for Indianapolis, high-tech economic development, growth of academic programs, and fundraising.

2000s

2000: Kelley Indianapolis creates the Career Placement Office to support students with the tools needed to identify and achieve career goals.

2000: The MD/MBA dual degree is launched in partnership with the School of Medicine.

2003: The Business Foundations Certificate is launched online to help small business owners and others broaden their business knowledge.

2004: The Tobias Leadership Center is founded with a $5.25 million gift from the Randall L. Tobias Foundation. The gift honors Tobias’ prominence as a state and national leader and tributes Indiana University for the significant role it played in his success.

2005: The Evening MBA Program introduces “enterprise experiences” that provide intensive, hands-on learning in key economic sectors.

2007: Management professor Philip L. Cochran is named executive associate dean for Indianapolis. He also holds the Thomas W. Binford Chair of Corporate Citizenship, which was created with a $1 million gift to the school in 2002.

2007: The Undergraduate Program introduces a supply chain management major.

2008: To enhance undergraduate student retention and create a greater sense of community, the school opens Kelley House in the IUPUI Riverwalk Apartments.

2009: The Master of Science in Taxation is launched. It is the only degree of its kind in the state of Indiana.

2010s

2011: The Evening MBA Program is ranked #10 in the country by U.S. News & World Report in the publication's first ranking of part-time MBA programs. In succeeding years, the program ranks in the top 10 seven more times and is no lower than #15. Today, it is the #1 part-time MBA in Indiana.

2013: The Physician MBA launches and is the country’s first and only physician-only MBA from a top-ranked business school.

2016: Finance professor Ken Carow is named executive associate dean for Indianapolis.

2017: The ROI Podcast debuts and provides actionable insights that professionals can apply to their work.

2018: The Center for Excellence in Manufacturing is founded with the support of a $1 million gift from Gregg and Sabine Sherrill. Gregg is a 1991 Evening MBA graduate for whom the directorship of the center is named. The new center will provide strategic and leadership training for Kelley Indianapolis students, developing executive talent ready to lead manufacturing enterprises in Indiana.

2018: The Kelley School’s Center for Real Estate Studies expands programming to Indianapolis.

2019: The Graduate Certificate in Medical Management launches to provide business training to healthcare professionals.

2020s

2020: The Undergraduate Program introduces a real estate co-major.

2021: The Business Sustainability and Innovation Lab launches to provide research and on-the-ground expertise to help companies better understand the business case for sustainability and their impact on the environment and society.

2021: Enterprise Corps—a partnership between the Indy Chamber Business Ownership Initiative and Kelley Indianapolis—expands resources available to small businesses in Indianapolis, connecting them with faculty coaches and Evening MBA student teams to answer questions and solve problems.

2021: Through the Diversity in Leadership Program, Kelley Indianapolis partners with other Indiana universities to build a pipeline of highly qualified, diverse talent to lead in senior-level positions.

2022: Business law and ethics professor Julie Manning Magid is named executive associate dean for Indianapolis. She is the first woman to lead Kelley Indianapolis in this position. A year later, Magid is named vice dean.

2023: The DDS/MBA dual degree is launched in partnership with the School of Dentistry.

2024: To help students maximize their education and career preparation while also introducing talent to the state’s workforce pipeline, Kelley Indianapolis launches Business Plus, an industry-leading program that links undergraduate students to the state’s leading companies.

2024: Kelley Indianapolis celebrates 50 years of shaping business in the city, the state, and beyond.

2024: IU Indianapolis launches as an independent campus on July 1, after a decades-long partnership with Purdue University.

Our History