About Us-History

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Suffolk University was founded in 1906 as a law school for working adults. The University expanded in 1934 by establishing the College of Arts and Sciences and again in 1937, with the establishment of the School of Management. The school added the MBA degree program in 1948. Suffolk initiated New England's first Executive MBA program in 1978 and the first MBA Online program in 1999.

In 1995, the School of Management was renamed the Sawyer School of Management in honor of Frank Sawyer, Boston entrepreneur and University benefactor. A self-made businessman, Frank Sawyer went from being a taxi driver in Boston to founding the Checker Taxi Company in 1921, setting the bar for customer service in the taxi service industry. His company was one of the first to accept passengers of any race and the first to hire a black driver. Later, Sawyer added Town Taxi and Red Cab and became instrumental in the development of Avis Rent-a-Car. Though he never attended college, Frank Sawyer had a great respect for education and for those who must struggle to finance for it. He died in 1992 at the age of 97.

“This country is open to anyone. You need to start with imagination. If you can imagine something, and work hard, you can do it.” Frank Sawyer

These qualities and the ideals for which they stand, are embedded in our mission to create opportunities and provide quality education in a supportive environment.

(Click here for more about Suffolk University history).

Suffolk University Business School At-a-Glance

Students: Our enterprising students come from all over the United States and the world.

Nearly 70% of our undergraduates are Massachusetts residents, 20% are international and 11% come from another state in the US
In our graduate programs, 89% are US residents and 11% are from overseas countries
Top ten countries sending students to Suffolk: Bahrain, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey and Venezuela
Undergraduate majors: accounting, entrepreneurship, finance, global business, information systems, interdisciplinary studies, management, marketing and public administration
Over 60% of graduate students are in our MBA program; 2-% are in public administration/health administration and 18% in finance
54% of our 1,594 undergraduate students are male; 46% are female
Student initiated clubs include the Women in Business Club, International Business Club, and the Professional Marketing Association
Griffin Fellows, undergraduate honors students, participate in honors seminars and courses; shaping their learning experience to their own needs and interests
Our part-time graduate students continue their studies while working for companies such as State Street Corporation, Fidelity Investments, John Hancock Investments, and Massachusetts General Hospital

Faculty: Exceptional faculty are one of the most important resources at the Suffolk Business School. Their skills and experience provide our students with a rock-solid foundation to build their knowledge base.

We have 80 full-time faculty and over 90 part-time faculty
Our faculty are engaged in research and the business community. Recent professional achievements include:
Lin Guo, Associate Professor of Finance, who completed research on the regulatory oversight of the savings and loan industry. Her proposal was among 16 funded from 160 submissions by the FDIC's Center for Financial Research.
Accounting Professor Mawdudur Rahman organized the 1st International Meeting of the Association of Accredited Online Programs, an organization he also founded.
Elizabeth Wilson, Associate Professor of Marketing, received "Best Article 2004" by the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing for "Case Study Research Methods for Theory-Building."
Robert DeFillippi, Chair and Professor of Management and Director of the Center for Innovation and Change Leadership, has been asked to serve as an international reviewer for the Italian Ministry of University Education and Research.

Administration:

William J. O'Neill, Jr., Dean

Susan C. Atherton, Associate Dean, Faculty and Undergraduate Programs

Myra Lerman, Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Programs

Shariar Khaksari, Associate Dean / Dean of International Business Programs

C. Richard Torrisi, Associate Dean / Dean of Graduate Programs

Lillian Hallberg, Assistant Dean, Graduate Programs and Director, MBA Programs

Alumni: The Sawyer School of Management has close to 20,000 alumni worldwide. They hail from all parts such as Genzyme Corporation, Fidelity Corporation, Hewlett Packard Company, Motorola Corporation, IBM, State Street Corporation, Procter & Gamble - Morocco, Bangladesh Bank, Intel Corporation - Japan, Deloitte Consulting - Denmark, Coca-Cola - South Africa and hundreds of other organizations.

Business School Accolades: Our efforts have not gone unnoticed.

The Suffolk University Business School recognized in the 2005 edition of the 20 Best Business Schools, published by the Princeton Review
US News and World Report lists the Suffolk MBA Online program as one of the best regionally and nationally accredited programs.
US News and World Report lists Suffolk University in the top tier of "Best Universities-Master's" in the North region, which counts 165 ranked institutions in six New England states, as well as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Washington D.C.
The Association of International Educators recently selected Suffolk University as one of eight institutions of higher learning in the country to receive an award for its international programs.