Marquette University

Marquette is taking its business education program to the next level. In January, the university opened Dr. E. J. and Margaret O’Brien Hall, a brand-new facility that houses the College of Business Administration, Graduate School of Management and Marquette’s innovation leadership programs.

“The hall was designed so that the lights would always be on,” says Tim Hanley, the acting Keyes Dean of Business Administration. “We designed it so that students would be happy to be here from 9 in the morning to 9 at night, to stay between their classes, to study in groups in the evenings. Now that it’s open, the lights really are always on – it’s incredible to see how many students gather here.”

The new building, which was funded entirely by donations, is a catalyst to grow the pipeline of future Catholic, Jesuit-educated business leaders for years to come. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including whiteboard cameras, speakers and other web-connected rooms. It has classrooms, lab and study spaces, a café, faculty offices and an event space. The facility’s “Pitch Pit” is one of many spaces to emphasize innovation – the room is designed for students to pitch ideas and give presentations as they will in their professional careers. For example, students in the Accelerating Ingenuity in Markets program convene there with professors to pitch investment ideas for Marquette’s endowment fund.

The hall was also designed with collaboration between disciplines in mind. “Our goal with this new building was to create the convening place for business in southeastern Wisconsin. We envision collaboration between companies, their executives, our faculty and our students, and we’ve created spaces to facilitate that, including technologies that allow that to happen both in person and remotely,” Hanley says.

Future accountants, marketers, bankers and even students from outside the business school are all welcome to take advantage of the new space. Hanley believes the student-centric facility will help to foster further innovation in Marquette’s business education program, which includes nationally top-ranked programs in supply chain management, accounting, finance and real estate.

“Marquette creates confident business professionals who have the knowledge to succeed and the principles to lead with purpose,” Hanley says. “We have smaller classes, our students get hands-on guidance, and we have a strong background in Jesuit education principles. That kind of training gives our students a leg up, and we see our graduates excelling in all corners of business.”