The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is located at Utah State University (USU) in Logan, Utah. The school was founded in 1889, when the only other four-year business school in the United States was the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, making the Huntsman School the second oldest college of business in the country and the oldest west of the Mississippi River.
Contents
History
The business school was founded in 1889, one year after the founding of USU, as the college's Commercial Department. The first students graduated from the course in 1894. The program underwent several organizational revisions and name changes in its first two decades. By 1911, the program (then named School of Commerce) was already recognized as a leading business institution. A 1911 newspaper report about the economics department said:
When so eminent an authority as professor L. C. Marshall of the University of Chicago reports that the work in the department of economics of our school is comparable to that given in the best institutions in the country, we feel that we are paid one of the highest tributes ever. ... In the number of hours instruction given, the number of students in the courses, and the general standard of the courses, we are surpassed by only a very few of the large universities.
In 1918, the school became known as the School of Commerce and Business Administration. At that time, the school included five departments: markets, business administration, accounting, political science, and history. Other majors continued to be added over time.
In 1952, under the direction of Professor C. D. McBride, the Management Institute came into existence. Utah's economy was rapidly shifting from agriculture to business, and USU, as the land-grant institution in Utah, had an obligation to provide educational services in business and industry throughout Utah comparable to those offered in agriculture and rural life through the Cooperative Extension Service. The Management Institute was in charge of providing educational services for businesses.
By 1957, the School of Commerce and Business Administration had become the College of Business and Social Sciences, with M. R. Merrill as dean. Three of the four departments were strictly social science: history and political science, economics, and sociology. In 1959, Robert P. Collier became acting dean. The college included the departments of business administration and secretarial science, history and political science, sociology and social work, and economics.
By 1966, business courses were taught in more than a dozen buildings on campus. Accounting, which had enjoyed department status early in the college's history but had been under business administration for many years, became a separate department again—in addition to the accounting department, the College of Business included six other departments, including the Division of Military Science and Aerospace Studies.
Location
The George S. Eccles Business Building underwent a major renovation in 2008, made possible by a $1 million grant from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation.
In 2011, the Utah Legislature approved funding for a new business building, Jon M. Huntsman Hall, located southwest of the Eccles Business Building. The building was funded by $36 million in private funds and $14 million in state funds. The 125,000-square-foot building includes 21 classrooms, 21 student meeting rooms, office spaces, and multiple event spaces.
On August 29, 2025, the Huntsman School completed construction of the Carolyn & Ken Gardner Learning & Leadership Building (GLLB), completing a multi-building "campus" for the Huntsman School. The GLLB is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated entirely to experiential business and leadership training. Acting as a "Center of Centers" for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, it houses the following:
The Stephen R. Covey Leadership Center
The Center for Entrepreneurship
The Analytics Solutions Center
The Huntsman Scholar Program
The Huntsman Hive / Freshman Academy
Academics
The Huntsman School comprises five academic departments: Accounting, Economics and Finance, Management, Management Information Systems, Marketing, and Strategy. As of 2019, the school has 105 faculty members and 63 staff members.
Undergraduate offerings
The Huntsman School offers nine majors encompassing the core business disciplines and 20 specialized minors.
Graduate offerings
The Huntsman School offers eight business graduate programs. All eight graduate programs are offered on-campus to full-time students. MBA and MHR are available as part-time programs with delivery methods tailored for working professionals. The school also offers concurrent enrollment graduate programs. Students can select two majors from MBA, MHR, and MMIS and complete two graduate degrees in 2 years.
Centers
The Center for Entrepreneurship offers classes, internships, and competitions. Its programs include the Entrepreneurship Leadership and Huntsman Venture Forum Speaker Series, an entrepreneurship minor, the Small Enterprise Education and Development (SEED) internship program, and various competitions. In 2019, the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) awarded the School first place for Excellence in Co-Curricular Innovation for its Small Enterprise Education and Development (SEED) Program.
FJ Management Center for Student Success combines various student services, including academic student advising and career development, under one organizational structure.
Stephen R. Covey Leadership Center goal is to develop principle-centered leaders through its curriculum, co-curricular activities and coaching.
Shingo Institute offers educational workshops and executive education programs, organizes study tours, hosts an annual conference, and annually awards the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.
The Center for Growth and Opportunity trains undergraduate and graduate students, conducts economic research with a national network of scholars, and communicates transformative solutions to some of the country’s most pressing issues.
Experiential learning and offerings
Huntsman Scholar Program is a selective honors undergraduate business program on the Logan campus. Students receive a stipend for up to four years, a fully funded global learning experience, and participate in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular experiences. Students are assigned a faculty mentor and have the opportunity to build relationships with faculty, staff, alums, and fellow students.
The Small Enterprise Education and Development Program (SEED) connects students with opportunities to teach enterprise creation and sustainability in Ghana, Guatemala, Peru, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic.
Focused Fridays at the School are dedicated to job search workshops, technical training, keynote forums, and networking opportunities.
Global Learning Experiences prepares students for an international business environment. Program options include summer programs to Asia and South America, spring break programs to London and Paris, semester exchange programs, and international internships.
People
Faculty
In 2006, Dr. Douglas D. Anderson became the dean of the College of Business at USU. A year later, he secured a $25 million gift from Jon Huntsman Sr. for the college to be renamed the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. In 2016, Anderson helped secure a $50 million collaborative gift ($25 million from the Huntsman Foundation and $25 from the Koch Foundation).
In 2010, USU and the Huntsman School of Business announced that Stephen R. Covey would join its faculty as the school's first Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair. Covey was the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. In 2021, the Huntsman School hired Oxford professor Teppo Felin to become the inaugural Douglas D. Anderson Endowed Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship.
Alumni
Gar Forman '84 - General Manager, Chicago Bulls
Eric Hipple '80 - former NFL Quarterback, Detroit Lions
Merlin Olsen '62 - Athlete, Los Angeles Rams; Broadcaster, NBC Sports; Actor.
L. Tom Perry '49 - Apostle, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Steven E. Snow '74 - General Authority, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Christopher "Chris" Stewart '84 - Best Selling Author, New York Times; Congressman, Utah's 2nd congressional district.
Gary E. Stevenson '79 - Apostle, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Co-founder of ICON Health & Fitness
Controversy
On November 13, 2017,The Utah Statesman published an article about the college secretly spending differential tuition without the permission of an advisory board, an amount totaling more than $8 million annually. At the Huntsman School of Business, students are required to pay $2,000+ more annually than other students at USU, but these business students were told they get a voice in how that money will be spent. That voice would be the 3-5 students on the Advisory Board. But the board had never met, and when Business Senator Nadir Tekarli (student) tried to get the board to meet, he was met with problems from the administration. Due to the backlash following The Utah Statesman publication, the administration caved and had its first Advisory Board meeting. The Salt Lake Tribune has also covered this story.