Carlson School of Management

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The University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management
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The Carlson School of Management
Type Public business school
Established1919
Parent institution
University of Minnesota
Dean Jamie Prenkert
Academic staff
104 (tenure/tenure track)
38 (full-time instructional)
Undergraduates 3,028
Postgraduates 1,634
98
Location, ,
United States
Campus Urban
Website www.carlsonschool.umn.edu
Carlson School of Management

The Curtis L. Carlson School of Management is the business school of the University of Minnesota, a public research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. Minnesota Carlson offers undergraduate and graduate degrees as well as an executive education program. It also offers dual degrees with the colleges and schools of public affairs, law, medicine, and public health.

Contents

History [1]

The school was established in 1919, originally as the University of Minnesota Business School. George Dowrie, a banking expert from Michigan, was named the business school's first dean. In 1920, the University of Minnesota became the 18th school to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). [1]

In 1961, the Field Projects was launches to provide students with learning experiences outside of the classroom. The program continued for nearly four decades, eventually to be replaced in the modern era by the Carlson Enterprise programs — the David S. Kidwell Funds Enterprise, the Carlson Consulting Enterprise, Carlson Brand Enterprise, and Carlson Ventures Enterprise. [1]

In 1968, Professors Gordon Davis, Gary Dickson, and Tom Hoffmann launched the Management Information Systems (MIS) academic program and the Management Information Systems Research Center (MISRC). They became the first formal academic program and the first formal research center devoted to this new field, respectively. [1]

In 1986, the school’s name changed to the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management, following a $25 million gift from Curtis L. Carlson, the founder and chairman of the board of the Carlson Companies. Carlson later committed $10 million toward a new facility for the school, which opened in 1998. Today, the school is known formally as the Carlson School of Management and goes by Minnesota Carlson or Carlson for short. [2]

Campus

The Carlson School of Management's two facilities, the Curtis L. Carlson School of Management and Herbert M. Hanson Jr. Hall, are on the University of Minnesota's West Bank, west of the Mississippi River.

Curtis L. Carlson School of Management

Minnesota Carlson is housed in a 243,000-square-foot (22,600 m2), five-story building that was dedicated in 1998. The building has 33 classrooms, 35 meeting rooms, a 180-seat lecture hall, and a 250-seat auditorium. It is equipped with wireless internet access, experiential learning laboratories, and teleconferencing and video interview capabilities. It is also home to a dining center in the basement level. The facility is currently undergoing renovations.

Herbert M. Hanson Jr. Hall

Opened on September 25, 2008, Hanson Hall is connected to Minnesota Carlson by the Robert Sparboe skyway. As part of a $40 million expansion project, Herbert M. Hanson Jr. Hall nearly doubled the size of the business school, and provided a state-of-the-art home for Minnesota Carlson's undergraduate program. Hanson Hall covers 124,000 square feet (11,500 m2), is four stories tall, and has nine classrooms with wireless Internet access and state-of-the-art presentation technology. It also features 22 interview rooms, 10 breakout rooms, a collaborative learning lab, a recruiter lounge, a meeting room for information sessions and presentations by the corporate community, offices for undergraduate advising, undergraduate career placement, offices for the Department of Economics in the College of Liberal Arts, and a Caribou Coffee. The building is named after the benefactors, Herb and Bar Hanson, who kicked off the building campaign with a $10 million pledge in 2004. In 2006, the Minnesota State Legislature granted $26.6 million in funding to Minnesota Carlson as part of the University of Minnesota's Capital Campaign request.[ citation needed ] [3]

Academics

Business school rankings
U.S. MBA Rankings
Bloomberg (2025) [4] 23
U.S. News & World Report (2025) [5] 27
Global MBA Rankings
QS (2026) [6] 57
FT (2026) [7] 81

The school offers a bachelor's, MBA, and doctoral degrees, as well as executive education programs hosted domestically and abroad. Dual-degree programs include a JD/MBA, MD/MBA, MHA/MBA, and a MPP/MBA. Other programs include a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations (MHRIR), a Master of Business Taxation (MBT), a Master of Accountancy (MAcc), a Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA), an online Master of Applied Business Analytics (MABA), a Master of Marketing (MMKTG), a Master of Science in Finance (MSF), and a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management (MS SCM).

In 1920, the University of Minnesota became the 18th school to be accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Centers and Institutes

Minnesota Carlson is home to a variety of centers and institutes that connect faculty within the school and across the University of Minnesota: [8]

Notable alumni

Flip Saunders Flip Saunders.jpg
Flip Saunders

See also

Notes

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 "Our History". Carlson School of Management. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
    2. "Carlson School Evolves to Minnesota Carlson". Carlson School of Management. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
    3. "Starting Point" (PDF). Carlson School: A Magazine for Alumni and Friends: 2. 2006.
    4. "Best B-Schools". Bloomberg Businessweek.
    5. "US News MBA Rankings". US News.
    6. "QS Global MBA Rankings". QS.
    7. "FT Global MBA Rankings". FT.
    8. "Centers & Institutes". Carlson School of Management. Retrieved 2026-02-18.
    9. Blogs, Microsoft Corporate (2026-02-20). "Asha Sharma named EVP and CEO, Microsoft Gaming". The Official Microsoft Blog. Retrieved 2026-03-02.
    10. "C. Allen Parker Biography – Interim CEO and President – Wells Fargo". www.wellsfargo.com.
    11. "Thomas O. Staggs | the Walt Disney Company". Archived from the original on 2014-12-16. Retrieved 2014-12-14.

    44°58′14″N93°14′42″W / 44.97056°N 93.24500°W / 44.97056; -93.24500