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CBA Kicks Off 100-Year Celebration with Back to School Bash

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business Administration celebrates 100 years of educating business leaders with a back-to-school bash on Friday, August 23 from 4-6 p.m. on the west side of the CBA building. College of Business Administration students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and business partners are invited to celebrate with the college. Valentino’s pizza, prizes and the band Lemon Fresh Day will be a part of the celebration. RSVP by August 21 at: http://cba.unl.edu/bash.

Dr. Donde Plowman, James Jr. and Susan Stuart Endowed Dean of the College of Business Administration, said, “The accomplishments of our students, our alumni and our faculty over the last 100 years attest to a unique, invaluable business education experience, and it is something to truly celebrate. The College of Business Administration is an exceptional place because of our exceptional people.”

Back to School Bash
The College of Business Administration, which was created by the University Board of Regents in 1913 as the School of Commerce, has a storied history on the UNL campus. A few highlights include:
  • The School of Commerce was one of the 16 charter members of the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916.
  • The university was the first school west of the Mississippi to formally establish a graduate school, and CBA is still the only Ph.D. granting business school in the state.
  • The School of Commerce educated women before they had the right to vote. The College of Business Administration’s first graduating class included five women in 1919.
  • “Dear Old Nebraska U” was written in 1923 by CBA student Harry Pecha which continues to be used today as the Husker fight song.
Most recently, UNL joined the Big Ten Conference in 2011, where CBA joined some of the most prestigious business schools in the nation. The Board of Regents approved a new $84 million building in 2012, which will be completed by 2017. This innovative, state-of-the-art building will be the largest academic building project to date on the UNL campus. It will help attract world class faculty and students to be a part of the only Big Ten business school in Nebraska. 

Today, CBA is home to the second largest college on campus with 3,514 students enrolled in the fall of 2012 and 97 full-time equivalent faculty members. There are 10 undergraduate majors and a newly created business minor for the non-major. U.S. News & World Report ranked the online MBA program 2nd in the Big Ten (17th overall) and 3rd in the nation for veterans in 2013. The CBA-sponsored Nebraska at Oxford Program, which is the most popular study abroad program at UNL, celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2013, and Career Services at CBA, which began in 2012, now has four career coaches to help students with their internship and career aspirations. Finally, the 2013-14 academic year marks the first Honors Academy class to enroll at CBA.

“While much has changed in business over the past century, one thing hasn’t – the need to educate future business leaders who can excel in the ever-changing global marketplace,” said Plowman. “It’s a great time to be a part of the UNL College of Business Administration.”
Published: August 19, 2013