Top MBA Programs

When choosing the MBA program that is right for you, you might want to think about things from the great people that went there before you. Here are some of the top business schools and some of the great people that went there.

The Ivies

As in most fields, the Ivy League institutions are very strong when it comes to business. Most do not offer business at the undergraduate level, save for Penn and Cornell. Only once you get to the graduate level do you get to the great business opportunities. Penn and Harvard are at the top, but there are also the usual suspects.

UPenn

Wharton is probably the most famous business school and it is the best. It is where Donald Trump went for his undergraduate degree, although he never got his MBA there. Edmund T. Pratt Jr., the former CEO of Pfizer, was a Wharton grad. He was responsible for turning the company into an international pharmaceutical giant. In the car world, J.D. Power and Associates is well known as a place to buy automobiles. J.D. Power himself went to UPenn. Robert Crandall was the chairman of American Airlines and is credited with creating the frequent flyer program. He got his MBA at Wharton in 1960. John Sculley ran two massive companies in Pepsi and Apple. Before he fired Steve Jobs from his own company, Sculley graduated from Wharton in ‘63.

Harvard

Some of the Cambridge greats include Robert S. McNamara, who was the Secretary of Defense during the Vietnam War. Walter Haas Jr. was the CEO of Levi Strauss during its rise from regional chain from worldwide jeans brand and graduated in 1939. Robert Kraft, CEO of the Kraft Group, owner of the New England Patriots, and massage parlor enthusiast, was a Harvard MBA grad in 1965. One year later, top ten richest man in the world and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg left the school. Former president George W. Bush graduated in 1975 before working in oil and owning the Texas Rangers. One year before, former presidential runner-up Mitt Romney also graduated from Harvard.

Non-Ivies

Just because you do not go to an Ivy, it does not mean you are not getting a great education. Stanford is second only to UPenn on the national rankings. Harvard might not even be the best in Cambridge, as MIT is a good challenger.

Stanford

The best of the west coast produced some top talent. Phil Knight, founder of Nike, is a Stanford alum. Joe Coulombe was a grad in 1954. His name might not ring any bells on its own, but this is the famous Joe of Trader Joe’s. Charles Schwab graduated from Stanford in 1961 and now owns the famous investment company. Nolan Bushnell pulled business double duty after his Stanford years. He is responsible for video game pioneer Atari and Charles Edward Cheese, also known as Chuck E. Cheese. Jeff Bewkes, CEO of HBO and now Time Warner as a whole, was Class of 1977.

MIT

One of the coolest Sloan grads also came back to start a conference at the school, which has become huge in sports analytics. Daryl Morey, the GM of the Houston Rockets, used his business and math smarts to change the way that we view basketball by valuing the three point shot more than his peers. Kofi Annan graduated in 1972 and famously went on to serve as Security General of the United Nations. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, was a Sloan grad. Carly Fiorina, one of the most powerful female CEOs ever, was a Sloan grad before joining Hewlett-Pakard.