Mission and History

Mission Statement

The College of Business Administration prepares students to become competent and responsible business professionals and leaders. The CBA vision is guided by the belief that “business is an applied, global discipline.” Thus, our business programs are differentiated by a strong applied focus and extensive ties with the business community.  We are focused on continuing improvements in the quality of our students, faculty, and programs.  The college mission is consistent with and central to the mission of The University of Akron.

Historical Highlights

1916-1938 | 1949-1958 | 1965-1979 | 1980-1989 | 1990-1999 | 2000-2009 | Present

1916

The University of Akron began offering business administration and commerce courses.

1921

The Department of Commerce and Administration was formed within the College of Engineering.

1922

The first Bachelor of Science in Commerce and Administration degree was conferred.

1926

Dr. Warren W. Leigh appointed head of the Commerce department.

1938

The Department of Commerce was transferred from Engineering to the Social Science Division of the Buchtel College of Liberal Arts.

1949

Dr. Leigh, an innovator in teaching techniques, designed a sales and merchandising laboratory in cooperation with Akron merchants and industries.  The laboratory consisted of a "live" store built into a classroom.

1953

The College of Business Administration was established as a professional college of The University of Akron. The new college, located in a corner of Simmons Hall, had 14 full-time and 19 part-time faculty to instruct 107 full-time day and evening undergraduate students.

Dr. Leigh was appointed first Dean of the College of Business Administration.

1958

Graduate business program was introduced.

1965

A new Business and Law Building was completed.

1966

Undergraduate business program received full accreditation by AACSB International.

1970

CBA began publishing the Akron Business and Economic Review (ABER) as an outreach for additional interaction with business, and in recognition of a need to communicate the results of faculty and student scholarly efforts to many constituencies.  Up until 1991, when ABER went out of publication, it was recognized nationally as one of the most significant publications in collegiate business education.

Centralized advising for undergraduate students was introduced, providing evening advising hours and enabling the control of class sizes, student scheduling and maintenance of records as required under new AACSB standards.

1971

Dr. James W. Dunlap, Head of the Department of Finance, was appointed Dean of the College. He eventually became known as “The Student’s Dean" and was the college’s longest serving dean (January 1, 1971 – August 15, 1989).

1972

CBA was one of three institutions in Ohio, and forty in the nation, selected to participate in a Small Business Administration program.  Under the program, teams of business students were provided as consultants to help small business firms in the Akron area, giving the students an opportunity to work on problems of direct practical significance in an actual firm.

1973

Accounting Internship program was introduced. It provided on-the-job training for accounting students with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and the Ohio Department of Taxation.  A similar type of alternative to the traditional co-op program was established with The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for Industrial Management majors.

1974

Bureau of Organizational Development was established to meet the College's responsibility for conducting seminars, short courses, and conferences for executives desiring to continue their education outside of traditional academic programs.  During 1974-75, the Bureau sponsored five executive development programs and, in January 1976, co-sponsored the first three-day Penton Learning Systems seminar.

Business/Law building was remodeled into first Business Administration building.  This new building provided features such as a faculty and student reading room, a quantitative business analysis laboratory, college and departmental reception areas, and individual offices for most faculty members.

1975

New Business Administration building was named Warren W. Leigh Hall in honor of the first Dean of the College. Computer terminals were also installed in the new building.

1976

Graduate business program received AACSB International accreditation.  Despite having only an evening part-time program, the CBA was one of only four colleges in the country to achieve accreditation of its graduate program that year.  Also in that year, the undergraduate program was reaccredited.

1979

Master of Taxation program was introduced.

1980

Joint programs with the School of Law were created. Through these programs, students could earn the law degree (JD) and either a Master in Business Administration (MBA) degree or Master of Taxation degree in less time than pursuing these degrees separately.

1985

CBA was recognized as a leading provider of international business education in Ohio as it hosted its first Symposium on International Business. The event featured the vice-chairman of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and a panel of nine multinational professionals.

CBA negotiated a $250,000 endowment pact with the Ohio Real Estate Commission in support of real estate programming in the Department of Finance.

A joint effort with the School of Law resulted in the establishment of a Center for Taxation Studies to coordinate research in taxation and assist in the development of tax policy projects.

1987

CBA was cited for its excellent work in developing its international business program and was given the Governor's Excellence in Exporting Award.

The CBA Alumni Association established the Dr. Frank L. Simonetti Distinguished Business Alumni Award to honor distinguished alumni in the name of Dr. Simonetti, a CBA alumnus and professor, the first department head of management, and a dedicated friend of the college.

1988

CBA was reaccredited at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and the School of Accountancy attained separate AACSB accreditation for its programs.

Fifteen law and business students from the Center for Taxation Studies Tax Clinic made history when they became the first college students in the nation to testify before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, which was looking into a bill that proposed sweeping changes in relations between taxpayers and the IRS.  The students presented the results of a research project they conducted that revealed that millions of Americans, primarily in lower income brackets, were being unjustly penalized by the IRS because they did not understand the complex wording of the instructions on federal tax forms.  Because of the students’ research, the Center was asked to work with the IRS in the revision of the tax forms.

1989

The University of Akron, through the Center for Taxation Studies, became the national pilot center for IRS electronic filing by a non-profit agency.

Construction of a new $8.8 million building to house the College began in 1989 on the site of the old Greyhound Bus Terminal, across the railroad tracks from the Buckingham Center for Continuing Education.

1990

Charles Herberich Professorship in Real Estate was created within the Finance Department through an endowment fund established by the Ohio Real Estate Commission.  The purpose of the Chair is to promote real estate programs and activities within the College and attract quality students to the real estate discipline.

1991

The new four-story, 81,000 square foot CBA Building was completed. It was equipped with 23 classrooms, the Henrietta & Milton Kushkin Computer Laboratory, the Fisher Sales Laboratory, a suite of offices for the College's student organizations, five conference rooms and over 150 faculty and staff offices.

1993

The University of Akron Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the College’s first institute, the Fisher Institute for Professional Selling.  Funded through a $500,000 gift from Mr. and Mrs. Ron Fisher, the institute’s mission is to enhance the image of the sales profession, to promote selling as a lifelong career, to provide high quality instruction to students and executives, and to conduct research which advances the field of sales.

1995

The William T. and Rita Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies was established on the basis of a $2.5 million pledge from the Fitzgeralds.  The institute, established to promote the principles and practices of the free enterprise system and encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, is the only one of its kind in Northeast Ohio.

Oak Associates, ltd. donated $50,000 to UA and four other Ohio colleges to begin an intercollegiate investment competition.  The CBA’s investment fund is managed by the undergraduate and graduate portfolio management classes.

1996

The Institute for Global Business was established through a $2 million allocation from the Ohio legislature.  The mission of the institute is to advance the understanding of global business practices and assist in the development of the global business practitioner.

Mary K. Moyer provided the College with a $1 million gift to create the Dr. Frederick W. Moyer Chair in Finance in honor of her late husband.  The Moyer Chair is being used to enhance the finance department’s performance and academic reputation as one of the best finance departments in Ohio.

1998

Following an extensive self-study, the College earned reaffirmation of AACSB accreditation at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in both business and accounting, an achievement attained by only 133 U.S. business colleges at that time.

1999

The CBA team placed first (out of thirteen schools) in the annual Oak Associates, ltd. Investment Club Competition. During the year, the team earned 202.83% over its beginning balance.

2000

CBA introduced a new E-Business graduate certificate program and new E-Business concentration in the MBA program.

2001

An undergraduate degree program in E-Business was introduced.

2002

The College’s graduate sales program was ranked as one of the top 5 in the United States by Sales & Marketing Management magazine.

2004

The Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing was created with $1.5 million gift from CBA alum, Gary Taylor, founder and board chairman of InfoCision Management Corp. The Institute was created to help today’s marketers meet the needs of an ever-changing marketplace and to provide tomorrow’s marketing leaders.  The 27,000 square foot Taylor Institute provides students and the business community with the resources needed to convert marketing theory and practices into profitable marketing campaigns.

2005

CBA was included in the 2005 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 143 Business Schools" and the College’s entrepreneurship program was listed by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of 10 "first tier" programs at regional universities.

2006

CBA was included in the 2006 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 237 Business Schools."

2007

The Mary S. and David C. Corbin Finance Lab was created with funding from the Corbin Foundation. This state-of-the-art facility provides an advanced learning environment by offering students in all business applications the unique opportunity of pulling information from a wide range of sources and presenting it simultaneously on multiple screens in the classroom.

CBA was included in the 2007 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 282 Business Schools."

2008

One of the CBA Computer Labs was converted to a Distance Learning Lab, allowing professors to simultaneously teach students both on and off the UA campus, and students from each site to interact. 

The Fisher Sales Laboratory embarked on an extensive renovation to upgrade the technology in its seven lab rooms and adjoining classroom.

The Benjamin and Nancy Suarez Applied Marketing Research Laboratories, a one-of-a-kind marketing research, teaching and experiential learning facility, was created featuring three laboratories and a large classroom.

CBA was included in the 2008 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 290 Business Schools."

2009

CBA was ranked among the top 100 Business Schools in the U.S. by BusinessWeek magazine.

CBA was included in the 2009 edition of The Princeton Review's "Best 296 Business Schools."

George W. Daverio School of Accountancy was nationally ranked by the Public Accounting Report (PAR) in December 2009.

2010

CBA was ranked among the top 100 Business Schools in the U.S. by Bloomberg BusinessWeek for a second consecutive year. The college moved up in the rankings from #93 to #76, ranked #7 in the nation for recruiter satisfaction, and #39 in the nation for return on investment among public schools.

George W. Daverio School of Accountancy was nationally ranked for the second consecutive year by the Public Accounting Report (PAR)

2011

For the seventh consecutive year, CBA was ranked by Princeton Review's Top Business Schools. The College of Business Administration was also ranked among the top 100 Business Schools in the U.S. by Bloomberg Businessweek for the third consecutive year and is the only business program at a public university in Northeast Ohio ranked in the top 100. U.S. News and World Report also considered the CBA as one of the best business colleges in its 2011 rankings.

CBA Today

Today, the College of Business Administration consists of four departments, five institutes, and two centers. The College has 66 full-time and 32 part-time faculty, and a total enrollment of over 2,800 graduate and undergraduate students. Our students have access to world-class facilities and the latest technology. The CBA is supported by many generous friends who provide financial support for our programs and activities, and by more than 200 senior business executives who serve on our advisory boards and give generously of their time, expertise and funds. The College has been included in The Princeton Review’s list of Best Business Schools every year since 2005. Our part-time MBA program was ranked 34th in the nation among part-time programs in the Businessweek 2011 rankings and has been included in U.S. News & World Report's 2013 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools." In February 2012, the CBA’s undergraduate program was ranked by BusinessWeek among the top 100 of all U.S. business schools for a fourth consecutive year and in September 2012 was ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The CBA is recognized within the community as an important source of human capital for economic growth and enhanced quality of life in Northeast Ohio.