History

Milestones in Mays history

1876-1920

  • Business education intermingled with mechanical and agricultural programs. Courses included single- and double-entry bookkeeping and creamery management.

1920

  • Department of Economics offers business courses

1921

  • Agricultural Administration programs offers business courses

1926

  • Formation of accounting and statistics, farm and ranch management, marketing and finance departments

1946

  • Department of Business and Accounting formed in School of Arts & Sciences, Thomas W. Leland named department head
  • First master’s degree awarded in accounting and statistics

1951

  • General MBA degree offered
  • Department moves from temporary structure into Francis Hall

1953

  • Center for Executive Development established

1961

  • School of Business Administration formed; John E. Pearson becomes head after the retirement of Thomas W. Leland

1965

  • School of Business departmentalized into programs of study in accounting, business analysis and research, finance, marketing and management

1966

  • Implementation of MBA degree

1968

  • College of Business Administration formed; John E. Pearson named dean

1971

  • The Texas Real Estate Research Center (now part of Mays) is created by Texas Governor Preston Smith

1972

  • College accredited by American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business
  • First Ph.D. awarded

1978

  • William V. Muse appointed dean upon the retirement of John E. Pearson

1980

  • First business career fair held

1981

  • College moves to the Blocker Building

1983

  • William H. Mobley appointed dean, succeeding Clinton A. Phillips who served as interim dean for one year
  • Center for Retailing Studies established
  • Fellows Program created

1985

  • Center for International Business Studies created

1986

  • Business Honors Program created

1987

  • A. Benton Cocanougher appointed dean after interim dean Don Hellriegel serves for one year
  • Texas Real Estate Center moves to college from College of Agriculture
  • Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship created

1989

  • Center for the Management of Information Systems created

1990

  • Center for Human Resource Management established
  • Center for International Business funded as a Center for International Business Education and Research

1991

  • Implementation of the bachelor’s degree in agribusiness

1992

  • Professional Program in Accounting formed
  • Outstanding Alumni Awards established

1994

  • Center for the Study of Western Hemispheric Trade created

1995

  • College moves to the Wehner Building
  • Graduate Business Career Services center created

1996

  • College is endowed by Mr. Lowry Mays ’57, founder and CEO of Clear Channel Communications. In honor of this $15 million gift, the college is renamed the Lowry Mays College & Graduate School of Business.

1998

  • Implementation of master’s degree in agribusiness

1999

  • Executive MBA Program accepts first class
  • Reliant Energy Trading Center founded
  • College adopts enrollment management for the undergraduate program

2001

  • Jerry R. Strawser ’83 becomes dean upon the retirement of A. Benton Cocanougher

2002

  • College renamed to Mays Business School

2003

  • State-of-the-art Jerry and Kay Cox Hall opens, adding classroom and office space, as well as permanent space for the trading center and the Cocanougher Special Events Center

2005

  • The Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship hosts its inaugural Aggie 100 award ceremony

2007

  • Ricky W. Griffin serves as interim dean for one year during Jerry R. Strawser’s tenure as interim Executive Vice President and Provost of Texas A&M University

2008

  • Executive MBA Program ranked #1 by Wall Street Journal
  • Paul “Buck” Eckels ’52 gives $3.5M estate gift
  • Mays CPA pass rates among the highest in Texas
  • First Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) program offered at Texas A&M

2009

  • Paul Kruse ’77 and Blue Bell Creameries fund chair in business at A&M
  • Peggy and Lowry Mays ’57 continue investment in Mays Business School
  • Anonymous bequest provides $3M to Mays Business School

2010

  • Mays finance program ranked 5th nationally by recruiters
  • Gallery Furniture provides interactive retailing library at Mays

2011

  • Accounting professor Mary Lea McAnally takes helm of Mays graduate programs
  • First students complete Trading, Risk and Investments Program

2012

  • Full-Time Mays MBA rises into Top 10 in Bloomberg Businessweek ranking
  • Mays opens custom educational facility in CityCentre Houston for Professional and Executive MBA programs.
  • First Professional Mays MBA class meets.

2013

  • All Mays accounting programs break into Top 10
  • Mays undergraduate program receives all A’s in national rankings
  • Mays team wins national Wall Street Journal competition
  • Mays MBA team sweeps ethical leadership case competition

2014

  • Jerry Strawser leaves position as dean for job as vice president of finance and administration at Texas A&M
  • Ricky W. Griffin serves as interim dean
  • Mike Hitt receives inaugural Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Scholarship

2015

  • Eli Jones ’82 named dean of Mays Business School
  • MS Business program is launched
  • Professional Selling Initiative launch ceremony is held
  • Leonard Berry receives Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Scholarship

2016

  • Anthony Bahr ’91 and Jay Graham ’92 invest $12 million to help launch the Petroleum Ventures Program (PVP) 
  • Mays moves up two places in U.S. News & World Report “Best Business Programs” rankings of undergraduate business programs nationwide to 17th among public universities and 27th overall
  • Mays moves up in 2016 Bloomberg Rankings to 18th overall and 4th public for “Best full-time MBA programs”
  • Initiation of the proposed Business Education Complex (BEC) started at a Dean’s Advisory Board meeting at CityCentre Houston
  • New course on Strategic Philanthropy allows students to allocate $50,000 in grant money to nonprofit organizations
  • Rajan Varadarajan receives Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Scholarship
  • Office of Diversity and Inclusion is created and directed by Annie McGowan

2017

  • Mays Business School receives a commitment of $25 million from the Mays Family Foundation, the largest single commitment in the school’s history. $15 million of the commitment was dedicated to the proposed Business Education Complex (BEC).
  • Mays Business School Strategic Plan revised (2017-2021)
  • Mays MS Business program celebrates first graduating class
  • Mays is recognized  as “Top Tier” in CEO Magazine’s 2017 Global MBA Rankings
  • Reynolds and Reynolds Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans Program is named
  • KPMG is named the 2017 Mays Business School Corporate Partner of the Year
  • Mays presents the inaugural Peggy and Lowry Mays Impact Award to Peggy and Lowry Mays
  • Duane Ireland receives Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Scholarship
  • Mays welcomes Texas A&M University Institute for Advanced Studies (TIAS) scholar V Kumar
  • Mays honors 2017 Outstanding Alumni: Gregory M. Cokinos ’79, Cydney Collier Donnell ’81, Carri Baker ’84
  • Mays is recognized by AACSB International with 2017 Innovations that Inspire award
  • Artie and Dorothy McFerrin give $10 million to rename Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship

2018

  • Mays honors 2018 Outstanding Alumni: Mike Shaw ’68, Fred Heldenfels IV ’79, and Fred Caldwell ’82
  • AACSB reaccredits Mays Business School and the Department of Accounting
  • EY is named the 2018 Mays Business School Corporate Partner of the Year
  • Dean Jones appoints Reimagine Wehner Task Force
  • Office of Diversity and Inclusion hosts first annual Mays Transformational Leadership Academy
  • Ricky Griffin receives Mays Lifetime Achievement Award for Research and Scholarship
  • Mays Business School celebrates its 50th Anniversary
  • Brockman Scholarship Program formed

2019

  • Mays hosts the 4th annual SEC Business School Diversity Conference
  • Center for Retailing Studies recognizes Jim McIngvale of Gallery Furniture with the M.B. Zale Visionary Award
  • Mays honors Reynolds and Reynolds as 2019 Partner of Year
  • Mays honors 2018 Outstanding Alumni:  Mark D. Taylor ’83, Peter H. Currie ’85, Wayne Roberts ’85
  • Professional Selling Initiative renamed Sales Leadership Institute at Texas A&M
  • Accounting Department renamed to the James Benjamin Department of Accounting

2020

  • Classroom and campus operations were adjusted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Money Magazine puts Mays at No. 8 in country’s top best colleges for business and No. 1 in Texas
  • Four of five undergraduate programs are ranked in the Top 25 in the nation, according to the 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings with Accounting #14, Marketing #19, Supply Chain #20, and Undergraduate Management Information Systems #25
  • For the first time ever, all three MBA programs (Texas A&M’s Executive, Full-Time, and Professional MBA programs) were named top 20 programs at the same time, according to the 2021 U.S. News & World Report rankings
  • The James Benjamin Department of Accounting ranks No. 1 in the nation for underrepresented groups among Ph.D. graduates and faculty, according to the American Accounting Association Journal, Issues in Accounting Education
  • The Full-Time MBA program ranks No. 3 for Best Administered Program, No. 8 for Best Professors, and No. 10 for Best MBA for Operations, according to The Princeton Review 2021
  • Mays recognized its 2020 Outstanding Alumni inductees: Laura C. Fulton ’85, Randall B. Hale ’85, and Blake A. Pounds ’89
  • Sewell Automotive was recognized as Mays 2020 Partner of the Year
  • Mays completed a refresh of spaces in the Wehner building that included active learning studios, collaboration and huddle spaces equipped with advanced technology
  • In the University’s $4 billion Lead by Example Capital Campaign, which ended in 2020, Mays surpassed its campaign goal of $139 million by raising over $205 million

2021

  • R. Duane Ireland is appointed as Acting Dean, effective January 1, 2021
  • R. Duane Ireland is appointed as Interim Dean, effective June 14, 2021
  • Texas A&M’s Full-Time MBA program is a Top 20 U.S. Public program, according to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankings (No. 16 public program in the U.S. and No. 38 overall)
  • For the third year in a row, the Full-Time MBA program is in the Financial Times Top 100 Global Full-Time MBA Rankings (No. 85)
  • U.S. News and World Report placed the Master of Science in Analytics (MS Analytics) on the annual best Online Master’s in Business Rankings (non-MBA) list during the very first year the program was eligible to apply for ranking (No. 6 program in the state of Texas and No. 72 overall for Best Master’s in Business)
  • The MS Business program is ranked as the #1 MS Business program nationally (by “Best Value Schools”)
  • The Mays Innovation Research Center hosted the first Texas A&M Bitcoin Conference
  • Mays Business School received approval of the Program of Requirements for the proposed Business Education Complex (BEC)