Henry Wollman Bloch School of Management

Henry Wollman Bloch School of Management
Name	Henry Wollman Bloch School of Management
Established	1950s
Type	Public business school
Parent	University of Missouri–Kansas City
City	Kansas City
State	Missouri
Country	United States
Dean	David Gustafson
Students	3,500 (approx.)
Website	official site

Contents

Henry Wollman Bloch School of Management is the business school of the University of Missouri–Kansas City located in Kansas City, Missouri. The school offers undergraduate, graduate, and executive education programs with ties to regional and global marketplaces including Kansas City Power & Light Company, Hallmark Cards, Cerner Corporation, and international partners. Its programs emphasize entrepreneurship, finance, and healthcare management and engage with institutions such as Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, World Bank, and United Nations agencies.

History

The school's origins trace to postwar expansion at the University of Missouri system and the growth of professional schools in the United States alongside peers like Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Wharton School. In the 1960s and 1970s the school expanded curricula influenced by frameworks from Peter Drucker, Milton Friedman, and Michael Porter and partnerships with local firms including Hallmark Cards and Sprint Corporation. Philanthropic naming honors from entrepreneur Henry Bloch linked the school to regional civic initiatives alongside donors such as Ewing Marion Kauffman and institutions like the Kauffman Foundation. Over decades, the school evolved amid accreditation milestones involving AACSB International, curricular reforms inspired by case methods used at Harvard Business School and quantitative techniques popularized by MIT Sloan School of Management.

Programs include Bachelor of Science degrees, MBA, Executive MBA, Master of Science specializations, and certificate offerings similar to programs at Kellogg School of Management, Columbia Business School, and INSEAD. Specialized tracks cover entrepreneurship paralleling curricula at the Kauffman Foundation and Babson College, finance influenced by practices at Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, and healthcare management connected to Saint Luke's Health System, Children's Mercy Hospital, and Cerner Corporation. Dual-degree pathways exist with the University of Missouri School of Law, UMKC School of Medicine, and partnerships with international institutions such as Universidad de Salamanca and University College London. Executive Education serves professionals from firms like Black & Veatch, Emerson Electric, and Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

Research centers and institutes mirror centers at institutions like Wharton and Chicago Booth, including entrepreneurship centers linked to the Kauffman Foundation and finance research collaborating with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Faculty research spans behavioral studies referencing scholars such as Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler, strategy research in the lineage of Michael Porter and Jay Barney, and operations work inspired by W. Edwards Deming and Eliyahu Goldratt. Centers include entrepreneurship incubators working with Google for Startups, innovation labs comparable to MIT Media Lab, and healthcare research partnering with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The school holds accreditation from AACSB International and participates in assessments by ranking entities similar to U.S. News & World Report, Financial Times, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Comparative metrics reference peer institutions such as the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Northwestern University, and University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. Program recognitions cite competitiveness in entrepreneurship akin to awards from the Kauffman Foundation and finance placement success with firms like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

Located on UMKC's Volker Campus near Country Club Plaza and Liberty Memorial, facilities include classrooms, trading labs, incubator space, and research suites paralleling amenities at Carnegie Mellon University and MIT. Technology-rich spaces feature finance trading rooms equipped with terminals akin to Bloomberg Terminal installations used by J.P. Morgan and Citigroup. Collaborative spaces host events with organizations such as Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City Symphony, and Mid-America Regional Council.

Student organizations encompass chapters and clubs comparable to Beta Gamma Sigma, Enactus, Net Impact, and student government associations similar to those at University of Michigan. Career placement and internships connect students to employers including Hallmark Cards, Cerner Corporation, H&R Block, Sprint, Black & Veatch, and Charles Schwab. Professional development programming features guest speakers from Fortune 500 firms, alumni networks tied to leaders such as Henry Bloch and Ewing Kauffman, and mentorship initiatives modeled on programs at Big Brothers Big Sisters and corporate partners like Marriott International.

Alumni and faculty have held leadership roles across sectors: founders and executives associated with H&R Block, civic leaders in Kansas City, Missouri government, and entrepreneurs connected to the Kauffman Foundation ecosystem. Faculty scholarship includes contributors to fields linked with scholars such as Michael Porter, Peter Drucker, and Clayton Christensen. The school’s community includes board members and advisers who have served at Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, American Bankers Association, and nonprofit institutions like United Way.