Washington University in St Louis: Olin

Founded in 1917, the business school of Washington University in St. Louis is one seven of the university’s seven academic schools. Its MBA programmes started in 1950, a doctoral programme in 1958 and its executive MBA programme in 1983. In 1988 the business school changed its name to recognise a donation made by the John M.Olin Foundation. Further historical markers include offering a Shanghai-based Executive MBA degree (2002), with other programmes developed with partner universities in Asia and Europe.

Courses on offer at Olin also include: bachelor in business administration (BSBA) where students can choose second majors or degrees in other subjects; master of business administration; full-time master of business administration (MBA) where students have flexibility to focus on areas of particular interest to them; professional MBA (PMBA); master of accounting (MACC); master of science in business analytics (MSA); master of science in finance (MSF); the global master of finance (GMF) combines MSF courses completed at Washington University and a programme at an international partner institution; master of science in leadership and master of science in supply chain management (MSSCM). Olin’s Executive MBA (EMBA) is offered in St. Louis, Shanghai, and Mumbai.

Meanwhile, doctoral courses are the PhD in business that emphasises economics and helps students for careers in scholarship and teaching, and the doctor of business administration for students looking for advanced careers in corporations, banks, government agencies and research-oriented consulting positions.

Olin has a number of research centres. They include the Bauer Leadership Center; the Boeing Center for Supply Chain Innovation; Center for Customer Analytics and Big Data; Center for Research in Economics and Strategy and the Wells Fargo Advisors Center for Finance and Accounting Research which encourages faculty and students to work more closely with business.

There’s certainly plenty of business in St Louis, where Olin is based. The city has nine Fortune 500 companies located there. It’s also a lively hub with a low cost of living and is very well connected for transport. Among numerous attractions, St Louis’ massive Forest Park is right across from Washington University.

Notable alumni include: Avram Glazer, the president and CEO of the Zapata Corporation and joint chairman of Manchester United; adventurer and businessman Steve Fossett; Charles Nagel founder of the US Chamber of Commerce and Arnold Donald, founder and former CEO of Merisant.