The Archivist: Now Open for Business

As the clock ticked closer to 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of October 1949, 22 sets of eyes nervously examined their surroundings as they awaited the arrival of their instructor. For a few students, the familiar sight of this classroom on The Hill was welcome, but for many, it was their first experience on campus. They’d been selected by their employers to take part in a new program intended to foster innovation and development in Central Massachusetts.

This was the inaugural class of the WPI School of Industrial Management, founded by some of the nation’s preeminent entrepreneurs. WPI had included elements of business education in the curriculum from its beginning in 1865, but by 1922, an alumni committee recommended that it add dedicated business courses, an effort aided by a $20,000 gift from WPI trustee T. Edward Wilder, Class of 1874.

Initially just a single required course for seniors, the subject’s popularity necessitated the hiring of two additional faculty members in 1937. Over the next decade, as Worcester industries continued to thrive, industrial leaders and the WPI administration fostered the idea of a management education program that would strengthen the foundational educational platform for which Worcester Polytechnic Institute had always been recognized.

Professor Albert J. Schwieger directed the program and designed courses so that sponsoring corporations would present a practical challenge drawn from a real-world scenario. Team members would coordinate a solution with faculty and their peers, helping analyze the outcome of the company’s decisions.

The program would continue to grow due to popular demand; the BS and MSM degrees were added in 1970 and a full MBA in 1980. In 2003 The Business School was accredited; it joined Engineering and Arts & Sciences as a fully recognized division within WPI.

The program’s history was the subject of a recent Interactive Qualifying Project directed by Dean of The Business School Debora Jackson, Harry G. Stoddard Professor of Management. The team’s final presentation was given to an impressed audience, including Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty.