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Oklahoma State University

100th Anniversary

In 2014, the Spears School of Business celebrated its 100th anniversary and broke ground on a new state-of-the-art business building to house the school.

The events were meaningful because they marked the confluence of the past, present and future. We celebrated our past as we embraced the future. We were honored to have many of our past – students, faculty and staff – re-engage with us as we marked the beginning of a new century in high quality, engaging and accessible business education.

About the Centennial

Oklahoma State University’s business school has been known by many names over the years. It was the School of Commerce and Marketing when it was founded in 1914, but also has been known as the School of Commerce (1924-37), the Division of Commerce (1937-55), the Division of Business (1955-58), the College of Business (1958-69), the College of Business Administration (1969-2004), the William S. Spears School of Business (2004-2009), and today is known worldwide as the Spears School of Business.

Despite the many names changes there has always been one constant – a dedication to providing a quality business education. Spears School graduates from the past, present and future are making a difference in the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation and the world.

Enrollment in the new school in 1914 was 37 students, with courses in typewriting, public speaking, geography of commerce, bookkeeping, marketing, salesmanship office administration and rural economics. Today, there are nearly 4,300 undergraduate business students and more than 1,100 students pursuing graduate degrees.

In 2014, we shared many of the Spears School’s success stories throughout the yearlong celebration as we looked back at our history. As exciting as it is to relive the past and celebrate all that we’ve accomplished in the past 100 years, the future of business education shines even brighter at OSU.

100 for 100 individuals
100th anniversary magazine cover