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Headlines AACSB Looks Back on 90 Years In 1916, representatives from business schools across the U.S. came together to set standards for busi- ness school accreditation within the United States. Together they formed the Association of Colle- giate Schools of Business, the fore- runner of AACSB International. Three years later, the first set of accreditation standards was adopted, then revised in 1925. In 1966, the association began calling itself the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business—a name that was outdated two years later, as the University of Alberta in Canada became the first school from outside the U.S. to be accredited by the association. By 2001, the association had become so global that another name change was imperative, and the organization became known as the Association to Advance Colle- giate Schools of Business. In between those name changes, the association was very active. 1982 saw the first schools qualify for separate accreditation for their accounting programs. Mission- based standards were approved in 1991. In 1997, AACSB accredited 8 BizEd MAY/JUNE 2007 the first school outside of North America, ESSEC Business School in Paris. The trend toward internation- alization continued into the new millennium. The association moved its world headquarters to Tampa, Florida, in 2004, partly to give it access to a more international labor pool. And in 2006, it held its Annu- al Meeting outside the U.S. for the first time, in Paris. Today, the association continues its international emphasis while tak- ing on a more prominent role as a thought leader. All of the original founding schools are still members of the association: Columbia Uni- versity, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, New York University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Tulane University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, University of Nebraska, University of Pennsylvania, Universi- ty of Pittsburgh, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University. Cornell Univer- sity sent representatives to the very first meeting but did not join the association at that time because it didn't have a business school. It later became a member. Those 17 schools Members of an early class at Tulane University's College of Commerce and Business Administra- tion, a founding member of AACSB International, pose for a class photo. are now part of a membership that includes 1,086 schools and corpora- tions and spans 30 countries. Representatives from the found- ing schools—and a host of oth- ers—will be on hand to celebrate the association's 90th anniversary this April at AACSB's International Conference and Annual Meeting (ICAM) in Tampa. One highlight of the event will be a "parade of nations" as 30 countries with AACSB-accredited institutions are recognized in a gala celebration. A special panel discussion at ICAM will also peek into the association's future. "The Next 90 Years: Perspectives from AACSB's Founding Schools" will feature Ted Snyder from the University of Chicago, Thomas Cooley from New York University, Angelo DeNisi from Tulane, Avijit Ghosh from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Joel Podolny from Yale. In addition, conference attend- ees will receive The History of AACSB International Volume 2: