Georgetown University

About Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business began in 1936 as an undergraduate program within the School of Foreign Service and today is a global leader in business education, business ethics, and social responsibility.

In September 1936, the Division of Business and Public Administration launched “to meet demands of government and industry…to facilitate a thorough and practical comprehension of business and government.” At that moment in history, the nation’s capital was becoming recognized as a business center as well as a political city. The new division offered a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree with majors in business management, banking, accounting, and public administration.

In 1957, Rev. Joseph Sebes, S.J, founded the School of Business Administration, believing that an understanding of commercial markets is essential to worldwide political stability. Among the faculty, there was a sense that what they were doing was experimental — even revolutionary — because the Jesuit community opposed a school focused on the idea of making money. Nonetheless, the school persevered, and by the 1980s, it was primed for a breakthrough.

The school launched its MBA program in 1981. Along with functional areas such as management, finance, marketing, and accounting, the coursework was infused with the four cornerstones on which the program was based: business/government relations, ethics, international business, and communications. At the time, integrating international business elements in each course was cutting edge. Just a decade after the first class graduated in 1983, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Georgetown MBA 22nd in the country.

The 1980s saw a period of continued growth, including the launch of the Executive Education division for custom and open enrollment programs. It also was a transformative time for research; not only did the school culture become more research-friendly, but resources became available to hire senior researchers in an increasingly competitive market. In 1993, the school’s name changed again, to the Georgetown School of Business. It ended the decade with a celebration: In 1998, Robert Emmett McDonough, who graduated from the School of Foreign Service in 1949, gifted $30 million to the school, which thereafter became the Robert Emmett McDonough School of Business. The gift—the largest single donation to date in the university’s history—would be felt across the business school’s operations for years, providing additional, sustained resources for faculty recruitment.

Thus began two decades of extraordinary growth for the school, starting with the naming of George Daly as dean in 2005 and continuing with David A. Thomas and current dean Paul Almeida. Several new degree programs launched, including the Flex MBA, Executive Master’s in Leadership, Master of Science in Finance, Master of Arts in International Business and Policy, and the Master of Science in Management. In addition, several faculty-led centers, initiatives, and institutes took shape focused on such diverse issues as financial markets, entrepreneurship, real estate, and social enterprise.

The most visible legacy is the school’s current home, the $82.5 million, 179,000-square-foot Rafik B. Hariri Building, named for the late Lebanese prime minister and philanthropist whose son is a 1992 alumnus of the school. For the first time in its history, the entire school shares one home.

Today, McDonough is home to some 1,400 undergraduates, 1,400 MBA and other graduate students, and 700 participants in executive custom programs. The faculty is now 160 strong, including approximately 110 who are full-time. And the McDonough School of Business enjoys a reputation for academic excellence manifested by distinctive and global programs, scholarship, and activities that leverage the rich fabric of Washington, D.C., reflect the Georgetown expertise and identity, and are guided by the university’s Jesuit values.

About Georgetown University

Since the mid-1970's, the applicant pool for Georgetown’s first-year class has changed dramatically. In 1975, 50% of the applicants were offered admission. In 2019 only 14% of the applicants were admitted. Over this period of time, there has been an increase in not only the number of students applying but also, and more importantly, in the abilities and achievements of the students in the applicant pool. The combination of these factors has resulted in an increase in the competition for admission. In 2019, students applied to Georgetown from over 6,700 different high schools around the country and the world. The 3,299 students who were admitted come from more than 1,800 different high schools.

McDonough School of Business

Tenured and tenure-track full-time faculty: 78
Teaching and other full-time faculty: 35

Undergraduate Enrollment

- Georgetown College - 3,564
- School of Nursing and Health Studies - 473
- School of Foreign Service - 1,457
- School of Business - 1,289
- Total Undergraduate - 6,783

Graduate and Professional School Enrollment

School of Medicine - 816
School of Law - 2,071
Graduate School - 8,864
Total Graduate - 11,751

MBA Full-time Class Profile

1,362 applications received, 275 enrolled
30% Women
34% U.S. diversity (diversity signifies African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American)
30% International

MBA Part-time Class Profile

257 applications received, 128 enrolled
38% Women
33% U.S. diversity (diversity signifies African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, and Native American)
30% International

Paul Almeida, Dean and William R. Berkley Chair

Paul Almeida is Dean and William R. Berkley Chair at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. A member of the Georgetown community for more than two decades, Almeida has served Georgetown McDonough in a number of positions, including most recently as deputy dean for executive education and innovation and, prior to that, as senior associate dean for executive education. He also serves as professor of strategy and international business.

As senior associate dean, Almeida led the administrative and academic components of six executive education degree programs and more than 25 executive custom programs in as many as 30 countries, with over 1,000 students per year. The Financial Times continues to rank the school’s Executive MBA and Executive Custom Programs among the best in the world.

Almeida has conducted executive education and corporate seminars with over 75 organizations, including Microsoft, Gucci, Rolls Royce, IBM, Bechtel, Nextel, Sprint, Samsung, ARAMARK, AREVA, ENI, the World Bank, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Public Radio, OPIC, the Department of Agriculture, FDIC, Federal Election Commission, Department of Commerce, and Social Security Administration.

Almeida received a Ph.D. in international business and strategy and an M.A. in applied economics and managerial science from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a PGDM (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, and a B.E. in electrical engineering from the University of Poona, India. He also is the parent of a current Georgetown student and a 2016 graduate.

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