Notre Dame Executive MBA jumps to No. 15 in Bloomberg Businessweek ranking

Author: Carol Elliott

University of Notre Dame Mendoza College of Business

The University of Notre Dame Executive MBA program rose 12 slots to No. 15 in the just-released Bloomberg Businessweek’s biennial ranking of the best executive MBA programs in the nation.

The article accompanying the ranking noted that the program was “the biggest mover” of the 42 programs included in this year’s ranking, primarily due to a strong showing in student satisfaction. “Students in Mendoza’s Chicago-based program laud the school’s strong alumni network and the close-knit, community atmosphere it is able to build among EMBA participants,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The Notre Dame EMBA is offered through the Stayer Center for Executive Education at the Mendoza College of Business, which opened a state-of-the-art, 54,000-square-foot building in March to house the executive education program. The ranking included the Notre Dame EMBA’s 17-month program on the Michigan Avenue Campus in Chicago. The program offers a 21-month program on the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, as well.

“Our students and graduates enjoy a collegial bond that is uniquely Notre Dame, while developing their leadership and strategic skills through an innovative and rigorous new curriculum that focuses on the needs of an executive clientele,” said Paul C. Velasco, director of the Stayer Center for Executive Education. “Throughout the program, and for a lifetime as alumni, our students’ opportunities grow through their relationship with Notre Dame.”

The publication uses two measures to rank executive programs: a survey of graduating EMBA students that covers their entire MBA experience, from admission to graduation, and a poll of EMBA directors that asks for feedback on which programs they view as the best. The student survey calculation includes three years of data, encompassing the last three ranking cycles (2009, 2011 and 2013).

“We are so proud of the wonderful work our graduates do — from health care delivery to innovation in manufacturing,” said Suzanne Thoren Waller, director of degree programs at the Stayer Center for Executive Education. “Their talents are brought to the senior management level through the business acumen they have gained from the Notre Dame Executive MBA.”

The Notre Dame EMBA also was ranked No. 15 in the world in July on The Economist’s “Which MBA? Executive MBA Ranking,” the international news publication’s inaugural ranking of executive graduate business degree programs.

Founded in 1980, the Stayer Center for Executive Education provides leaders in the executive and management ranks the opportunity to develop and strengthen their leadership abilities and business acumen skills. Today, Stayer Center offers non-degree as well as degree programs — including open-enrollment, custom and online — awarding about 120 degrees annually and delivering programs in 10 countries.

In keeping with the Notre Dame mission, the program emphasizes values-centered leadership in addition to academic rigor.

Every Notre Dame Executive MBA student, as well as more than 1,900 company presidents, executives and directors, have participated in the Stayer Center for Executive Education’s signature Executive Integral Leadership program, which incorporates spiritual and ethical strengths as well as other personal dimensions into leadership development.

For more information about the Notre Dame Executive MBA, visit business.nd.edu/executive_mba.

Contact: Suzanne Thoren Waller, 574-631-2717, Suzanne.Waller@nd.edu

Originally published by Carol Elliott at news.nd.edu on November 07, 2013.