A history of tradition and innovation
The power of education to improve lives is an enduring story. Our story began in 1919 when UNC’s leaders envisioned a role for business education at a liberal arts university. That vision ultimately became UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Business has changed dramatically in the last century, as have we. But what first made us unique still remains — a tradition of innovation. From our earliest roots, UNC-Kenan Flagler has perpetually looked forward to develop the knowledge needed for the next generation of business.
We have changed the lives of thousands of people, directly and indirectly, since our founding in 1919 and seek to deepen and broaden our impact on people’s lives and the wider society. Join us on our journey to define what’s next. The best is yet to come.
1919 Innovating from the start
UNC President Edward Kidder Graham recognizes North Carolina’s need to develop business leaders to build its business and industrial sectors. The Department of Commerce begins with 125 students led by our first dean, Dudley D. Carroll. He imbued the department with a standard of ethics and broad view beyond the dollar signs of profit that endures.
1921 Graduating our first class
UNC awarded the first degrees of Bachelor of Science in Commerce to 12 students, including William D. Carmichael Jr., namesake of UNC’s basketball arena.
1928 Awarding our first PhD
Today our PhD Program continues to prepare the next generation of faculty who create knowledge as researchers and shape young minds as teachers at top business schools around the world.
1946 Upping our game
Seeing the state’s future written by business graduates, some 250 business and political leaders from across the state form the North Carolina Business Foundation to support the School of Commerce. Its funds radically transform our offerings through faculty salary supplements, research staffing, technology enhancements and scholarships.
1952-53 Launching MBA and executive programs
We begin offering our Full-Time MBA Program in 1952 and non-degree programs for executives in 1953. Today we offer the MBA in five formats and UNC Executive Development serves leaders and their organizations through custom programs.
1956 Laying the foundation
Maurice W. Lee begins his 20-year tenure as dean, leaving his mark for building an all-star faculty who excel at both teaching and research – a standard that continues today. He also launches a management simulation course that puts seniors in charge of their own companies to make policy, investment and budget decisions throughout the course of the semester. Experiential learning becomes a cornerstone of our curriculum.
1965 A trailblazer
Lewis Burton is our first African-American graduate. He spent more than 40 years providing advisory services to clients, helping them start and achieve their dreams. Classmate Coleman Ross established The Lewis M. Burton Master of Accounting Fellowship in his honor in 2015.
1973 Formalizing a commitment to diversity
We are the first Southern institution and sixth overall to join the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, a cooperative network of universities established to give African-Americans, women, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans the business skills they need to secure positions in U.S. corporations.
1985 Master of Accounting Program launches
You find our alumni at all of the Big Four accounting firms, middle-market firms, global corporations, public-sector entities, startups and nonprofit organizations. Carolina accounting graduates have a profound influence on the accounting profession, both nationally and internationally. In 2014, we broaden access to our MAC Program by offering it in an online format.
1985 Fostering private enterprise
The Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise stimulates economic prosperity and improves the lives of people in North Carolina, the U.S. and around the world.
1986 Earning your MBA while you work
We start our first program for business people to earn their MBAs while working: the Evening Executive MBA Program.
1991 An extraordinary gift, a formal name change
Frank Kenan continues his family’s legacy of supporting UNC by giving $10 million toward a new business school building. The School’s name is changed to Kenan-Flagler Business School in honor of Mary Lily Kenan and her husband, Henry Morrison Flagler.
1994 Developing executives and preparing entrepreneurs
The Kenan Family Trust graces us with another donation. An $8 million gift goes to build the Paul J. Rizzo Conference Center named after former UNC Kenan-Flagler Dean and alumnus Paul Rizzo. An additional $1 million dollar gift is earmarked to establish our Entrepreneurship Center.
1997 New home-base opens
We move into the McColl Building, named for Hugh McColl (BSBA ’57), retired chairman of the board and CEO of Bank of America. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan delivers the keynote address in the opening ceremony attended by 4,000 alumni, faculty, students and guests.
1998 No education like experience
Created for MBAs to learn about venture funding, the unique Venture Capital Investment Competition evolves into a global experiential learning experience for MBA and undergraduate students across the U.S. and the globe.
1999 Evolving with new demands and interests
We launch our Weekend Executive MBA Program as well as our Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Global Business Center.
2001 Building bridges
We founded the UNC Tax Center to build bridges between tax scholars, practitioners and policymakers who share an interest in tax policy. Its mission is to facilitate the creation, dissemination and discussion of evidence-based tax research to inform tax policy.
2002 Learning on four continents
A truly unique innovation in global education, we launched OneMBA® with Chinese University of Hong Kong, Fundação Getulio Vargas, Monterrey Tech Graduate School of Business Administration and Leadership and Erasmus University Rotterdam.
2002 Real-world real estate
Our real estate center opens and we later name it the Leonard W. Wood Center for Real Estate Studies in honor of our alumnus.
2004 Preparing global leaders
We partnered with Chinese University of Hong Kong and Copenhagen Business School to create GLOBE®. The undergraduate program leverages the strengths of three of the world’s best business schools to offer a truly global curriculum in which students learn about a range of cultures and approaches on three continents.
2005 Perfecting the pitch
Alpha Challenge is founded and becomes one of the world’s premier investment pitching competitions for top business schools and an integral part of our MBA students experience eager to join the investment management industry.
2006 STAR results
Student teams solve complex business problems organizations through our STAR (Student Teams Achieving Results) program. It’s an important avenue hands-on, action-based, experiential learning experience for our Undergraduate Business and MBA students.
2007 Inspiring a passion for investing
The Center for Excellence in Investment Management is founded in 2007 at the dawn of the financial crisis to prepare students for the most challenging jobs in all investment management disciplines through real-world experiences.
2007 Students manage the money
The Kenan-Flagler Private Equity Fund is the first student-run private equity fund in the world. Students invests outside capital in an educational setting to deliver real returns for investors.
2008 Connecting theory and practice in finance
A critical hub for students learning about the financial industry, the Capital Markets Lab provides students with hands-on learning experiences using the most sophisticated tools in the investment management industry and prepare them for successful careers in the financial industry. It was named the PNC Capital Markets Lab in 2024.
2009 Preparing next-generation family business leaders
We announce our Family Enterprise Center after teaching family business classes since 2006.
2011 Earning your MBA from wherever you are
July 4 marks the start of classes for our first MBA@UNC students, pioneers and our partners in shaping the future of global business education.
2012 Building an economy with opportunities for all to prosper
An economic development center based at the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, NCGrowth has touched every corner of North Carolina and every type of North Carolinian. It provides technical assistance to create good jobs and new wealth in economically distressed communities.
2013 Preparing leaders in China
We launch a dual-degree executive MBA program with Tsinghua University that fuses the disciplines of business and engineering, the only partnership of its kind between a top Chinese industrial engineering department and a top U.S. business school.
2015 All-of-the-above approach to energy
The UNC Kenan-Flagler Energy Center is founded to promote sound public policy through comprehensive programming, research and career placement across the energy value chain for UNC Kenan-Flagler students.
2015 Private capital's role in the global economy
The Institute for Private Capital brings together academic and industry experts to generate new knowledge about private capital markets. Researchers create new data resources, filling a significant gap in the knowledge base of financial economics.
2016 Every career is global
Our Global Education Initiative strategically and systematically provides a learning environment that develops the attitude, skills, knowledge and business practices our students need to manage, lead and succeed in global business.
2018 Tackling healthcare issues facing business and society
The Center for the Business of Health brings together the University’s leading health sciences divisions – including the top-ranked schools of pharmacy, public health, nursing, dentistry,and medicine – with the schools of business, social work, information and library science and law and departments in the College of Arts & Sciences.
2019 Celebrating our past and future
A century after our founding, our students, faculty and staff come from around the state, the country and the world. We offer Undergraduate Business, MBA, MAC, MSM, PhD and Executive Development Programs. You’ll find our 46,000 alumni in every U.S. state and 96 countries today.
2022 Advancing how leaders address environmental issues
In honor of an $11 million gift from the estate of the late Charles S. Ackerman (BSBA ’55), the Center for Sustainable Enterprise is renamed the Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability.
2022 MBA program and new campus in Charlotte
Working professionals no longer need to commute to Chapel Hill to earn their MBA. Charlotte Executive MBA students take classes in our first campus outside of Chapel Hill in Legacy Union’s new Bank of America Tower on South Tryon Street.
2024 Tricontinental studies
We partnered with Singapore Management University and Copenhagen Business School to launch TRicontinental Exchange in Business and Leadership Education (TREBLE) for undergraduate business students. Students will study, live and travel together, creating a lifelong network of global leaders.
2025 New degree program for new grads
A new graduate degree program, the Master of Science in Management, is created for recent college graduates who haven’t studied business and prepares them to launch business careers.