The Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management is the graduate business school of

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, a private Ivy League research university in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...

. Established in 1946, Johnson is one of six

Ivy League business schools Six of the eight Ivy League universities in the Northeastern United States have a business school that offers a Master of Business Administration degree, including Columbia University, Cornell University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Har ...

and offers the smallest full‑time MBA cohort of all Ivy League MBA programs, fostering an intimate and collaborative academic environment while also maintaining the third lowest acceptance rate. The Cornell Master of Business Administration (MBA) also offers a one-year Johnson Cornell Tech MBA at

Cornell Tech Cornell Tech is a graduate campus and research center of Cornell University on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York City. It provides courses in technology, business, and design, and includes the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, a partners ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, as well as the innovative Cornell 1+1 MBA program, which combines one year in

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

with one year at

. In 1984, Samuel Curtis Johnson, Jr. and his family donated $20 million to the school, which was renamed the ''S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management'' in honor of Johnson’s grandfather, Samuel Curtis Johnson, Sr., the founder of S.C. Johnson. The endowment gift was the largest gift to any business school in the world. Graduates of the Cornell University MBA – Johnson Graduate School of Management earn some of the highest salaries of MBA graduates in the United States. Graduates of the Cornell MBA earned an average first-year salary of $175,000 in addition to a signing bonus of $38,826, with 77.9% reporting a sign-on bonus, ranking as the second-highest total compensation of all business schools in the United States. Johnson is known for its elite consulting placements, strong finance and investment banking outcomes, One-Year Tech MBA in New York City, immersion learning, and tight-knit cohorts. With an acceptance rate of 28.1%, the Cornell University MBA – Johnson Graduate School of Management is the seventh most selective business school in the United States, and one of the most selective business schools in the world. The Johnson School is housed in

Sage Hall Sage Hall was built in 1875 at Cornell University's Ithaca, New York, Ithaca, New York (state), New York campus. Originally designed as a residential building, it currently houses the Johnson Graduate School of Management. Conception Although w ...

and supports more than 80 full-time faculty members. There are 600 students in the full-time, two-year

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

(MBA) program in Ithaca, and around 40 Ph.D. students, all advised by Johnson faculty. The Johnson School is known for its rural setting and small class size — with close proximity to

. As such, both factors, combined with Johnson's commitment to the two-year MBA program in Ithaca and one-year MBA at

, contribute to its high giving rate of 1 in 4 among the 15,000 global Cornell MBA alumni, the third highest alumni giving rate of all Ivy League business schools.

History

The Johnson School traces its beginnings to the university's founding in 1865. University co-founder

Ezra Cornell Ezra Cornell (; January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was an American businessman, politician, academic, and philanthropist. He was the founder of Western Union and a co-founder of Cornell University. He also served as president of the New York ...

proposed a ''Department of Trade and Commerce'' for the new university, which was "a radical departure from the day's conventional notions about higher education," as this proposal was made "sixteen years before

Joseph Wharton Joseph Wharton (March 3, 1826January 11, 1909) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was instrumental in the development of the nickel and zinc metal industries in the United States. He created the first plant in the United Stat ...

endowed the nation's first collegiate business school at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

." At a university faculty meeting on October 2, 1868, Cornell co-founder and first president

Andrew Dickson White Andrew Dickson White (November 7, 1832 – November 4, 1918) was an American historian and educator who co-founded Cornell University, one of eight Ivy League universities in the United States, and served as its first president for nearly two de ...

, suggested the creation of a professorship in

bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. T ...

in the context of a larger proposal: the creation of a "commercial college." In the meantime, the Agriculture College continued to have a Department of Agricultural Economics and the Arts College continued to have a Department of Economics. Formal movements towards a graduate business school began in 1914 when faculty in the NYS College of Agriculture convened the first meeting of the "Committee on a Commercial College". Led by economics professor Allyn Young, the committee recommended the creation of a "two-year graduate course leading to the Master's degree" in both business and public administration. Young had been trained at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, and the influence on the committee's discussion of its business school's creation only six years prior was apparent, as the committee's recommendations included instruction for graduate students only, selectivity in admissions, and integration into the larger university community. The idea of a business school took a backseat to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and its effects on the Cornell population. Following the Armistice of 1918, third university president

Jacob Gould Schurman Jacob Gould Schurman (May 2, 1854 – August 12, 1942) was a Canadian-American educator and diplomat, who served as President of Cornell University and United States Ambassador to Germany. Early life and education Schurman was born at Freetown ...

called for the establishment of such a school, which he estimated would require $1 million of initial funding. However, financial difficulties surrounding the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

would further delay its creation. In 1941, the university faculty recommended the creation of a School of Business and Public Administration, and it was unanimously approved on December 10, 1941, three days after the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...

. Cornell courted Paul M. O'Leary, who earned his doctorate at Cornell and was a member of Franklin D. Roosevelt's " brain trust," to be dean of the new school. O'Leary leveraged an offer to be dean of the business school at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in negotiations for the Cornell position, ultimately signing for a salary of $9,000. In 1946,

opened the ''School of Business and Public Administration'', holding classes in McGraw Hall and charging $200 for tuition for the first year. The school awarded two degrees—MBA and MPA—and its primary national recruiters included the Guaranty Trust Company of New York,

Eastman Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated i ...

DuPont Dupont, DuPont, Du Pont, duPont, or du Pont may refer to: People * Dupont (surname) Dupont, also spelled as DuPont, duPont, Du Pont, or du Pont is a French surname meaning "of the bridge", historically indicating that the holder of the surname re ...

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

, and

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

. In 1950 it gained acceptance of the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

. O'Leary stepped down as dean of the business school in 1951 to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Melvin G. deChazeau was appointed acting dean until 1954, when Edward H. Litchfield became dean. Under Lichfield's tenure, a Ph.D. program was established, the academic journal ''

Administrative Science Quarterly ''Administrative Science Quarterly'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of organizational studies. The journal was established in 1956 and is published by SAGE Publications for the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Manage ...

'' was created, a joint JD/MBA program with the

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

was organized, and the school was renamed the ''Graduate School of Business and Public Administration''. Litchfield left three years later for the chancellorship at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

and was replaced by C. Stewart Sheppard in 1957, followed by William D. Carmichael in 1962. In 1964, the school was relocated to Malott Hall, which was specifically designed to house it. During this period faculty divisions began to emerge, with three distinct groups vying for resources: business management, public administration, and healthcare administration (the Sloan Program). In 1983, the faculty voted to end instruction in the latter two fields and to change the school's name to the ''Graduate School of Management''. The public administration program moved to the NYS College of Human Ecology. That same year, the school began offering a dual-degree MBA/MA in Asian Studies with Cornell's FALCON (Full-year Asian Language Concentration) program, to produce American MBAs with some knowledge of the Japanese language and culture gained through coursework in Ithaca and a required summer internship in Japan. The school also created an MBA/MEng, originally called the Program in Manufacturing Management (PIMM). At the same time, Curtis W. Tarr was appointed the dean of the school. In 1984, Samuel Curtis Johnson, Jr. and his family donated $20 million to the school, which was renamed the ''S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management'' in honor of Johnson's grandfather, Samuel Curtis Johnson, Sr., the founder of S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. The endowment gift to the university was, at the time, the largest gift to any business school in the world. In 1989, Alan G. Merten was appointed dean of the Johnson School. The year 1995 saw the creation of the Johnson School's first website, as well as the launch of its first 12-month option class. Merten left in 1996 to be President of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

. In 1998, the school was relocated to the newly renovated

which had previously served as a dormitory, the school started the student-managed Cayuga MBA Fund, and the Parker Center for Investment Research was established. In 1999, the Johnson School began offering an

Executive MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

. In 2004, the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise was established. L. Joseph Thomas was appointed interim dean in 2007 and eventually the official dean in 2008. In Fall 2010, the school was rebranded in logo and in name: the ''Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University'', or simply ''Johnson at Cornell University'' or ''Johnson''. In 2010, the Emerging Markets Institute was established. In 2011, Johnson hosted

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

-sponsored ''3-Day Startup'' (3DS), an event where participants worked to start a technology company over the course of three days. Later that year, a Johnson team consisting of student portfolio managers in the school's $10 million Cayuga MBA Fund won second place in

CNBC CNBC is an American List of business news channels, business news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group, a unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The network broadcasts live business news and analysis programming during the morning, Day ...

's "MBA Face-Off" edition of its ''Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge'', a nine-week, real-time fantasy stock and currency trading competition. In 2012,

Soumitra Dutta Soumitra Dutta is an Indian academic, author and entrepreneur. He has been the dean of Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford since 1 June 2022. He was previously a professor of management, as well as the former founding dean, at the ...

became dean of the school, followed by Mark W. Nelson in 2016 after Dutta became dean of the new Cornell College of Business. In 2016, the Johnson School was placed under the same umbrella as other Cornell schools – the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management in the NYS College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the

Cornell University School of Hotel Administration The Nolan School of Hotel Administration (SHA, more commonly known as the Hotel School) is a specialized business school in the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, a private Ivy League university located in ...

– in the newly created College of Business that boasts nearly 3,000 students and 220 faculty – creating the country's third-largest business school faculty. In January 2017,

Herbert Fisk Johnson III Herbert Fisk Johnson III (born May 19, 1958), known as Fisk, is an American billionaire businessman. He is the fifth generation of his family to lead S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc of Racine, Wisconsin, as chairman and CEO. As of February 2025, his n ...

of S. C. Johnson & Son committed $150 million for the newly formed College of Business. In recognition of this gift, the college was named the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business. Collectively, the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business counts over 27,000 global alumni and is the fourth oldest of six

Ivy League Business Schools Six of the eight Ivy League universities in the Northeastern United States have a business school that offers a Master of Business Administration degree, including Columbia University, Cornell University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Har ...

. Additionally, Johnson publishes the academic journal ''

''.

Campus

The two-year MBA program is housed entirely in

, a 19th-century

High Victorian Gothic High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either a sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style in its own right. Prom ...

building which was originally built as a women's dormitory. It is located near the center of Cornell's main campus, across the street from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration and the four-diamond

Statler Hotel The Statler Hotel company was one of the United States' early chains of hotels catering to traveling businessmen and tourists. It was founded by Ellsworth Milton (E. M.) Statler in Buffalo, New York. Early ventures In 1901, Buffalo hosted the ...

. Inside Sage are a management library, a café, an atrium, classrooms, an executive lounge, a trading floor, student and faculty lounges, and a parlor. There are 38 breakout rooms and two phone booths. The building also has showers, shoe shining, and out-service dry cleaning. Offices are provided for all faculty and doctoral students, and MBA students are all assigned a locker. In 2015, the City of Ithaca's Planning board approved the construction of a six-story office/classroom building to rise at 209-215 Dryden Road in Collegetown, Ithaca that will house the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management upon completion. The business school will also utilize classrooms and offices at Cornell's Roosevelt Island campus upon completion of construction. As of 2024, the building is constructed and has a modern look, with an emphasis on glass and wood structures. The 76,000-square-foot building offers classrooms for 450 students, three floors of administrative offices, two high-definition broadcasting studios and 19 breakout rooms. Glass walls overlook a four-story atrium; this central gathering spot has superior acoustics and is designed to accommodate a wide variety of events. 73
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MBA program

Johnson offers a two-year full-time MBA program, which consists of one semester of mandatory courses (core), one semester in immersion, and an optional second-year concentration. Unlike other MBA programs whose mandatory courses occupy the entire first year, Johnson utilizes an intense first-semester core model, allowing students to engage in an immersion (concentration) prior to their summer internships. Johnson receives more than 2900 applications per year for a class size of less than 300. Overall, the program enrolled 284 students, up from 274 for the previous class. Despite this increase, the program is harder to get into, with the acceptance rate dropping from 32.4% to 27.3%. Entrance statistics for the Class of 2023 include an average score of 710 on the

GMAT The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT ( ())) is a computer adaptive test (CAT) intended to assess certain analytical, quantitative, verbal, and data literacy skills for use in admission to a graduate management program, such as a Mast ...

, an average GRE score of 324 (164 quant, 161 verbal) and a median of five years of work experience. The student body is international and diverse, with 43% of students holding citizenship outside the United States. Women comprise 42% of the Class of 2024. The core curriculum consists of one semester, divided into two halves. The first half focuses primarily on the internal aspects of the company and includes the courses Managing and Leading in Organizations 1, Microeconomics for Management, Financial Accounting, and Marketing Management. The first half then culminates in the ''Marketing Case Competition'', sponsored by S.C. Johnson & Son. The second semester focuses on the external aspects and includes the courses Statistics for Management, Managerial Finance, and Strategy. This half culminates each year in the ''Integrative Case Competition'', sponsored by

Citi Citigroup Inc. or Citi (stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company based in New York City. The company was formed in 1998 by the merger of Citicorp, the bank holding company for Citibank, and ...

. The elective curriculum can be chosen from over 80 courses within Johnson and over 4,000 offered across the Cornell campus. Johnson students have the option to dual-enroll in graduate-level courses in any Cornell college, including

Cornell Law School Cornell Law School is the law school of Cornell University, a private university, private, Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. One of the five Ivy League law schools, Cornell Law School offers four degree programs (Juris Doctor, JD, Maste ...

, Cornell School of Hotel Administration, NYS School of Industrial & Labor Relations, and Cornell College of Engineering. Ninety-four percent of the Class of 2023 accepted full-time roles within three months of graduation, and every student secured internships during the summer following the first year. The most popular career industries for graduates are

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

(42%), financial services (35%), and technology (11%). 55% of graduates decided to remain in the Northeast, followed by 16% to the West Coast, 9% Midwest, and equal distribution to the Mid-Atlantic, South, and Southwest. Additionally, Johnson graduates reported an average first-year base salary of $175,000, with a mean signing bonus of $38,826—77.9% of graduates received a signing bonus. According to Johnson's published 2023 employment report, the top hiring companies for full time students in the class of 2023 included

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

(26),

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and nonprofit organizations. One of the Big Three (management consultancies), Big Three management co ...

(17), and BCG (12). Similarly, the top hiring companies for the class of 2023 internships included McKinsey & Company (21), Bain & Company (10), and BCG (7).

Immersion learning & Concentrations

A unique aspect of the Johnson MBA experience is a completion of an intense, hands-on semester of an integrated course and fieldwork in a specific industry or career interest, before setting out for a mid-MBA summer internship. Immersions consist of integrated electives, performance-based learning, and live cases to blend rigorous classroom learning with practical fieldwork, giving students a unique opportunity to apply their knowledge in real-world business settings. The Johnson curriculum offers 6 immersions: *Consulting *Corporate Finance *Digital Technology *Investment Banking *Strategic Product and Marketing *Customized Students may also choose to pursue up to two optional academic concentrations during their second year of the program. Johnson's areas of focus include Asset Management and Investment Research, Brand Management, Data Modeling and Analytics, Emerging Markets, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Private Equity and Venture Capital, Technology Product Management, FinTech, and Culture, Media & Tech.

Sample coursework in private equity & venture capital

* Case Studies in Venture Financing * Designing New Ventures * Entrepreneurial Finance * Intensive PE Practicum * Negotiation Essentials * Venture Capital Apprenticeship These courses provide access to industry leaders in Private Equity and Venture Capital, ideal for students pursuing careers in these fields. The capstone experience involves participation in Big Red Ventures, a student-managed venture capital fund guided by faculty advisors and alumni. Additionally, students have the opportunity to participate in the Cayuga Fund, a $10 million asset management fund located at the Parker Center for Investment Researc

Beyond the Cayuga Fund, Johnson features the BR Venture Fund, a seed-stage venture capital fund focused on early-stage, high-growth businesses with a Cornell connection, providing practical investment experience. Additionally, the Johnson school frequently hosts industry leaders from the VC and PE sectors at both the Ithaca campus and the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. These events offer students the opportunity to learn directly from practicing professionals, expand their networks, and receive mentorship from industry leaders in these fields. Additionally, the Private Equity and Venture Capital Area of Focus, CMC, and Johnson Private Equity and Credit Club provide structured academic and professional mentorship by directly connecting students with alumni mentors who are successful practitioners in these fields.

Dual-Degree Programs and International Experience

* Joint program with Cornell College of Engineering (MBA/MEng) * Joint program with Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medical College (MBA/MD) * Joint program with Cornell School of Industrial & Labor Relations (MBA/MILR) * Joint program with

(MBA/JD) * Joint program with Cornell College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (MBA/MPS) * Joint program with

Cornell Institute for Public Affairs The Master’s in Public Administration at Cornell University is an academic program affiliated with the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. History MPA degrees have been o ...

in the NYS College of Human Ecology (MBA/MPA) The MBA/JD program has 3- and 4-year tracks, and the MBA/MPS program is for those who want to specialize in real estate. The MBA/MILR is a 2 1/2 program and has been termed the "crown jewel for aspiring

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

professionals." For international course experience, Johnson offers international study‑trip courses each year during Winter Break (December – January) and Spring Break (March). Most recent excursions have included Dubai, South Africa, Columbia, Brazil and Italy. The International Treks enable Cornell business students the opportunity to engage and assist businesses in developing economies, visit startups and established companies with an international footprint, and form closer bonds with their classmates. International treks are open to all Cornell University MBA candidates. The school also offers semester-long student exchange programs with

HEC Paris HEC Paris () is a business school and ''grande école'' located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. It offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional developm ...

IESE IESE Business School is the Catholic graduate business school of the University of Navarra. It was established in Barcelona in 1958 by Opus Dei. From 1963, in collaboration with Harvard Business School, it offers a two-year Master of Business Adm ...

, the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

, the National University of Singapore Business School,

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

, and

SDA Bocconi School of Management SDA Bocconi School of Management (SDA standing for Scuola di Direzione Aziendale) was founded in 1971 and is the graduate business school of Bocconi University in Milan and Rome, Italy. SDA Bocconi is Triple accreditation, triple accredited by t ...

. Students may also propose a semester-long exchange program with any of the remaining 57 member schools in the Partnership in International Management (PIM). The Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world. The Cornell MBA's current rankings are as follows:

MBA rankings

The Cornell University MBA – Johnson Graduate School of Management is consistently ranked among the top MBA programs in the world. In 2024, the Financial Times ranked the Johnson School at Cornell: * 9th in the world * 5th in the United States Other rankings: * #9 ''Forbes'' 2019 * #10 ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' 2018 * #8 Salary - U.S. News & World Report 2023 * #9 ''Poets and Quants'' 2024 * #9 Best MBA Program for Consulting - ''AdmitStreet'' 2024 * #5 Best MBA Program for Investment Banking - ''BusinessBecause'' 2024 * #9 Best MBA Program for Finance - QS 2024 * #7 ''Poets and Quants'' 2023 * #5 (North America) - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #8 (Global) - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #7 Average Starting Salary and Bonus - U.S. News & World Report 2022 * #9 Peer Assessment Score - U.S. News & World Report 2024 * #10 Salary - U.S. News & World Report 2025

Cornell University – Johnson School of Management and Undergraduate School rankings

* #5 Cornell University (Johnson School) - ''Financial Times'' Best Business School Ranking in the United States MBA 2023 * #8 Cornell University (Dyson School) - ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Undergraduate Business Schools in the United States 2022 * #1 Nolan School - ''CEOWorld Magazine'' Best Hospitality and Hotel Management Schools in the World for 2024 * #6 Cornell University (Dyson School) - ''Poets and Quants'' Best Undergraduate Business Schools of 2023 * #10 Cornell University (Johnson School) - ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' Best Business School Ranking in the United States MBA 2018 * #8 Cornell University (Johnson School) - ''Financial Times'' Best Business School Ranking in the World MBA 2023

MBA Specialty rankings

* #1 Best Administered - ''The Princeton Review'' 2024 * #1 Best Campus Environment - ''The Princeton Review 2024'' * #2 Best Professors - ''The Princeton Review'' 2024 * #9 Best Career Prospects - ''The Princeton Review'' 2024 * #3 Best Green MBA - ''The Princeton Review 2024'' * #1 Alumni Network - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #3 Alumni Network - ''The Financial Times'' 2024 * #3 Career Services Rank - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #3 Aims Achieved Rank - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #8 Compensation - ''Bloomberg Businessweek'' 2024 * #3 Overall Satisfaction - ''The Financial Times'' 2023 * #7 Career Progress Rank - ''The Financial Times'' 2025 In recent rankings, the Cornell University MBA – Johnson Graduate School of Management was ranked 5th by the
Financial Times
'' 7th by
QS Top Universities
', 10th by
Bloomberg Businessweek
', and 9th by
Forbes
'. In the ranking aggregator
Poets & Quants
' the Cornell Master of Business Administration (MBA) is ranked 7th in the United States. Additionally, the Cornell MBA has the fourth-highest average starting salary of all business schools located in the United States. In 2023, the median total compensation exceeded $205,000. The class of 2023, median overall compensation was ~$205,000 for the first year out of school.

Doctoral program

Johnson offers a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in the field of management, with primary concentrations in five areas: *Accounting *Finance *Marketing *Management and Organizations *Production and Operations management Doctoral students select two minor areas of concentration in addition to their primary field. Secondary fields offered by Johnson include behavioral science, managerial economics, and quantitative analysis; however, students may select a minor concentration outside of Johnson if desired. The program is small, with about 40 students in residence at any given time. Students are provided a full tuition waiver, a stipend, and health insurance. The doctoral program takes at least four years to complete, and the average time spent is five years. Students' first examination, admission to candidacy, is taken at or near the conclusion formal course work (typically following year three). This examination ascertains competence in students' chosen field and is administered in written and oral components. The second examination is a thesis defense, which is administered once the dissertation is complete. For 2010, Johnson's Ph.D. program was ranked #1 for experimental financial accounting. For finance, Johnson's Ph.D. program was ranked #6 according to a 2006 study.

Executive MBA

Johnson has three off-campus Executive MBA programs: * Cornell Executive MBA in Metro NY * Cornell Executive MBA Americas * Cornell Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership Established in 1999, the Cornell Executive MBA in Metro NY is based in

New York, NY New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. This program uses a traditional classroom setting at the Cornell Tech campus located on Roosevelt Island. Classes are held every other weekend, all day Saturday and Sunday morning, in addition to four residential sessions on the Cornell University campus. The program duration is 22 months. For 2010, Johnson's Executive MBA program was ranked #24 worldwide by ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. In 2005, Johnson launched the Cornell Executive MBA Americas program (originally called the Cornell-Queens Executive MBA program) in partnership with Queen's University in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. This program organizes participants into teams of 6-8 people in cities across the US, Canada, and Latin America, linking these teams via multi-point, interactive video conferencing for class sessions. Classes are typically held every other weekend, all day Saturday and Sunday morning, in addition to four residence sessions on the Cornell and Queen's university campuses. Graduates earn two MBAs, one from each institution, and the program duration is 17 months. In September 2016, Weill Cornell Medicine and the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management announced a new dual-degree program that will provide the next generation of health care leaders with a broad set of skills for success in a rapidly changing environment. Students participating in the two-year Healthcare Leadership program will receive a Master of Science degree from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and an MBA from Johnson. The program will focus on health care throughout the United States, in particular, health care systems that are experiencing vast changes in structure, payment, and regulatory requirements. Program duration is 20 months (with breaks), consisting of two semesters per year (fall and spring). You will take courses for ten weekends per semester at the Weill Cornell Medicine campus in New York City. In addition to formal education programs, Johnson offers tailored executive education training sessions, both on- and off-campus.

Organization, research, and programs

Johnson courses are organized under nine academic departments: accounting, communications, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, global business, management and organizations, marketing, operations management, and technology. Johnson's interdisciplinary centers include the Center for Leadership, the Center for Manufacturing Enterprise, the

Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise (CSGE) is a center of applied research, learning and practice in the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management (Johnson) at Cornell University. History In 2002 the late Samuel C. Johnson en ...

and the Parker Center for Investment Research. The Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise promotes various sustainability issues and enables students to have greater insights and knowledge in working for sustainability developments and causes. Johnson publishes top-tier academic journal ''

'' (ASQ). For 2007, ASQ had the highest "article influence score" according to ''

Eigenfactor The Eigenfactor score, developed by Jevin West and Carl Bergstrom at the University of Washington, is a rating of the total importance of a scientific journal. Journals are rated according to the number of incoming citations, with citations from ...

'', and it was ranked as the #16 academic journal in business by ''

''. Since 2001, Johnson has also hosted its annual ''MBA Stock Pitch Challenge'' (SPC), a 12-hour competition in which teams of finance students from twelve top MBA programs prepare and present buy/hold/sell recommendations and vigorously defend them. The names of the winning schools are inscribed on the Jack M. Ferraro Trophy. The winningest school is Kellogg, which has claimed first place three times (2004, 2005, 2006). The most recent winner is Chicago Booth (2010).

Emerging Markets Institute

The Emerging Markets Institute was founded in 2010 to investigate the role of emerging markets in the global economy, and to educate current and future business leaders in this area. The Institute brings together preeminent practitioners and academics from around the world to develop the next generation of global business leaders and create the premier research center on the role of emerging markets in the global economy. Since 2014, Professor Lourdes Casanova has been the Gail and Roberto Cañizares Director of the Emerging Markets Institute. EMI publishes every year the Emerging Market Multinationals Report, in collaboration with the Emerging Multinationals Research Network (EMRN), EMnet at the

OECD Development Centre The OECD Development Centre was established in 1961 as an independent platform for knowledge sharing and policy dialogue between Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Devel ...

International Finance Corporation The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C. and a member of the World Bank Group that offers investment, advisory, and asset-management services to encourage private ...

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international development finance institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America. It serves as one of the leading sources of development financing for the countri ...

, and several universities and academics from around the world. The report monitors the performance of emerging markets multinationals and examines the growth prospects of emerging economies in today’s highly complex and uncertain world. As of October 2024, the EMI has published 9 Emerging Market Multinational Reports. In 2024, the EMI Report was downloaded over 26,000 times. The EMI has organized 14 Annual Conferences, launched the Cornell EMI Mark Mobius Pitch Competition and the Cornell EMI Corning Cornell EMI Corning Case Competition. The Annual Conference is held at

campus at

Roosevelt Island Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the Borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about long, wit ...

and is attended by experts and leaders from Emerging Markets. Notable past guests have included

Iván Duque Iván Duque Márquez (; born 1 August 1976) is a Colombian politician and lawyer who served as the president of Colombia from 2018 to 2022. He was elected as the candidate from the Democratic Centre Party in the 2018 Colombian presidential ...

Mark Mobius Joseph Bernhard Mark Mobius (born August 17, 1936) is an American-born German emerging markets fund manager and founder of Mobius Capital Partners LLP. He was previously employed at Franklin Templeton Investments, Franklin Templeton where he ran ...

Marcos Prado Troyjo Marcos Prado Troyjo is a Brazilian political economist, entrepreneur, social scientist, diplomat and writer. He is currently a Transformational Leadership Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and a Distinguished ...

Kaushik Basu Kaushik Basu (born 9 January 1952) is an Indian economist who was Chief Economist of the World Bank from 2012 to 2016 and Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India from 2009 to 2012. He is the C. Marks Professor of International Studie ...

, Mbugua Martin Kimani, Jayant Sinha, and many others.

People

Faculty

Professors at Johnson include former school

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

Robert J. Swieringa, member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

for

; author and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' columnist

Robert H. Frank Robert Harris Frank (born January 2, 1945) is the Henrietta Johnson Louis Professor of Management Emeritus and a professor of economics at the Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He contributes to the "Economic ...

;

Maureen O'Hara Maureen O'Hara (; 17 August 1920 – 24 October 2015) was an Irish-born naturalized American actress who became successful in Hollywood from the 1940s through to the 1960s. She was a natural redhead who was known for playing passionate b ...

, who was the first female president of the

American Finance Association The American Finance Association (AFA) is an academic organization whose focus is the study and promotion of knowledge of financial economics. It was formed in 1939. Its main publication, the ''Journal of Finance'', was first published in 1946. ...

; and Robert Jarrow, co-author of the Heath–Jarrow–Morton (HJM) framework for pricing

interest rate derivative In finance, an interest rate derivative (IRD) is a derivative whose payments are determined through calculation techniques where the underlying benchmark product is an interest rate, or set of different interest rates. There are a multitude of dif ...

Alumni

The school's graduates have served in executive leadership positions for numerous corporations. Alumni include

Kraft Foods Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Irene Rosenfeld Irene Blecker Rosenfeld (born May 3, 1953) is an American businesswoman who was the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mondelēz International. Rosenfeld's career began at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, a New York City advertising agency ...

( Ph.D. '80),

Aetna Aetna Inc. ( ) is an American managed health care company that sells traditional and consumer directed health care insurance and related services, such as medical, pharmaceutical, dental, behavioral health, long-term care, and disability plans, ...

CEO

Mark Bertolini Mark T. Bertolini (born 1956) is an American businessman who is currently the CEO of Oscar Health, a tech-driven health insurance company located in New York. He was the co-CEO of Bridgewater Associates, one of the world's largest hedge funds, and ...

(MBA '84), Silicon Valley venture capitalist

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(MBA '86), Ocean Spray CEO Randy Papadellis (

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

), co-founder of

PeopleSoft PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided human resource management systems (HRMS), financial management solutions (FMS), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise performance management (EPM) softw ...

David Duffield David Arthur Duffield (born 21 September 1940) is an American billionaire businessman in the software industry. He is the co-founder and former chairman of PeopleSoft, and co-founder and CEO emeritus of Workday, Inc., two publicly traded enterp ...

(MBA '62),

Strategy& Strategy& is the strategy consulting business unit of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the Big Four professional service firms. Founded by Edwin G. Booz as Business Research Service in Chicago in 1914, the firm underwent numerous name cha ...

Middle East

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

Joe Saddi (MBA '83), former

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock la ...

CEO Ken Durr (MBA '60), former

Cargill Cargill, Incorporated is an American multinational food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865 by William Wallace Cargill, it is the largest privately held c ...

CEO Warren Staley (MBA '67), former CEO of Emerson

Charles F. Knight Charles F. Knight (January 20, 1936 – September 12, 2017) was an American business executive. He was chairman emeritus of Emerson Electric Co. Biography Early life Charles F. Knight was born in Winnetka, Illinois in 1936. He graduated from ...

(MBA '59), former

Applied Materials Applied Materials, Inc. is an American corporation that supplies equipment, services and software for the manufacture of semiconductor (integrated circuit) chips for electronics, flat panel displays for computers, smartphones, televisions, and ...

CEO James C. Morgan (MBA '63),

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

President Terry C. Stewart (MBA '72),

Sprint Nextel Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before being Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, acquired by T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 5 ...

CEO Dan Hesse (MBA '77), BP CFO Byron Grote (Ph.D. '81),

Comcast Comcast Corporation, formerly known as Comcast Holdings,Before the AT&T Broadband, AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not th ...

CIO Andrew Baer (MBA '82), S.C. Johnson & Son CEO Fisk Johnson (MBA '84),

Henry Ford Hospital Henry Ford Hospital (HFH) is an 877-bed tertiary care hospital, education and research complex at the western edge of the New Center, Detroit, New Center area in Detroit, Michigan. The flagship facility for the Henry Ford Health System, it wa ...

CEO Nancy Schlichting (MBA '79), and

Priceline.com Priceline.com is an online travel agency for finding discount rates for travel-related purchases such as airline tickets and hotel stays. The company facilitates the provision of travel services from its suppliers to its clients. Priceline.com ...

CEO Brett Keller (MBA '97). Johnson graduates are represented in academia and government by Robert S. Kaplan (Ph.D. '68), HBS professor, former Dean of the

Tepper School of Business The Tepper School of Business is the business school of Carnegie Mellon University. It is located in the university's campus in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school offers degrees from the undergraduate through doctoral levels, in addition to ...

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name **Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie * ...

, and co-creator of the

balanced scorecard A balanced scorecard is a strategy performance management tool – a well-structured report used to keep track of the execution of activities by staff and to monitor the consequences arising from these actions. The term 'balanced scorecard' prim ...

; Robert Sullivan (M.S. '68), Dean of the

Rady School of Management The Rady School of Management is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of the University of California, San Diego, a public university in San Diego, California, United States. The school was established as the University of Califor ...

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

; Ned C. Hill (Ph.D. '76), 7th Dean of the

Marriott School of Management The Marriott School of Business is the business school of Brigham Young University (BYU), a private university owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and located in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 189 ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

; and

John Hillen John Francis Hillen III (born February 3, 1966) is an American business executive and diplomat who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs from 2005 to 2007. He served as president and CEO of Sotera Defense Soluti ...

(EMBA '04), former

Assistant Secretary of State Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State, ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political aff ...

. Fictional alumni include Christina Pagniacci, portrayed by

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

, in ''

Any Given Sunday ''Any Given Sunday'' is a 1999 American sports drama film directed by Oliver Stone and produced by Clayton Townsend, Dan Halsted, and Lauren Shuler Donner from a screenplay by Stone and John Logan based on a story written by Logan and Da ...

'' and Alicia Mendoza in

Grand Hotel A grand hotel is a large and luxurious hotel, especially one housed in a building with traditional architectural style. It began to flourish in the 1800s in Europe and North America. Grand Hotel may refer to: Hotels Africa * Grande Hotel Beir ...

. Almost 25% of all Johnson alumni regularly give to the school, the seventh highest rate among business schools worldwide, ahead of the

Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (branded as Northwestern Kellogg) is the graduate business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. History Early history (1908–1950 ...

, and the

Wharton School The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School Of Management Cornell University Colleges and schools of Cornell University Business schools in New York (state) Universities and colleges established in 1946 Ivy League business schools 1946 establishments in New York (state) 1946 establishments in the United States