Mays Business School is the business school at Texas A&M University. The school educates more than 8,100 undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing, and supply chain management.
Mays Business School was one of the first five schools in the United States to offer a trading center, originally known as the Securities & Commodities Trading Center. Today, the Phillips 66 Trading Room provides students with hands-on training using the same tools and technologies employed by commodities, energy and currency traders. Students also use the center to manage the Reveille Fund, a $3 million portfolio created using donated funds. Additionally, the Mays houses the Center for Retailing Innovation, which was the first retailing center partnered with a business school.
History
Business education was first offered at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College in conjunction with mechanical and agricultural programs. From 1876 through 1920 students at Texas A&M could select from a small number of business courses including single and double-entry bookkeeping and creamery management. In the 1920s the Department of Economics and the Agricultural Administration programs began offering further business courses, and by the end of the decade the college had established departments for accounting and statistics, farm and ranch management, marketing, and finance.
Shortly after World War II, Thomas W. Leland became the first department head of the newly created Department of Business and Accounting, under the umbrella of the School of Arts and Sciences. After Leland's retirement in 1961, the School of Business Administration was formed. By 1965 the new head of the department, John E. Pearson, had spearheaded the formation of several departments within the School of Business, including accounting, business analysis and research, finance, marketing, and management. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) program debuted in 1966, and two years later in 1968, the college was officially formed when Texas A&M received University status, and the School of Business became the College of Business Administration. The college was accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in 1972, and began awarding Ph.D.s the same year. Over the next several decades the college continued to grow, establishing various centers, including the Center for International Business Studies and the Center for Human Resources Management, and implementing new bachelor's degrees.
In 1994 the West Campus Library, later renamed the Business Library & Collaboration Commons (BLCC), is built. The BLCC is home to one of eight Patent and Trademark Centers (PTRC) in the state of Texas.
The College of Business moved into the newly built Wehner Building on the western edge of Texas A&M University's campus in 1995. The following year the College was endowed by Lowry Mays, founder of Clear Channel Communications, and in his honor was renamed Lowry Mays College & Graduate School of Business. Six years later, the name was simplified to Mays Business School. Expansion quickly continued, and in 2003 an additional wing was added to the Wehner Building, housing the new Jerry and Kay Cox Graduate Business Center.
In January 2025, the Wayne Roberts '85 Building was opened, an 82,500-square-foot building included a grand atrium, cafe, classrooms, and additional study areas. Simultaneously, the ConocoPhillips Collaboration Plaza was built outside, bridging the Wehner and Roberts buildings.
Business School Rankings
The school's graduate and undergraduate programs have been recognized in national and international rankings.
Graduate program rankings
Program Ranking Scope Publisher Year Online Master's in Business #1 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Online Master's in Business Programs for Veterans #1 U.S. News & World Report 2026 Online Master's in Business Offering Leadership #1 U.S. News & World Report 2025 Master's in Finance #2 U.S., Public Financial Times 2026 Executive MBA #5 U.S., Public Financial Times 2025 Executive MBA #7 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Full-Time MBA #7 Public Bloomberg Businessweek 2026–27 Online Master's in Business Analytics #9 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Graduate Analytics Program #9 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Graduate Accounting Program #12 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Full-Time MBA #13 Public Fortune 2026 Graduate Production/Operations Management Program #14 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Full-Time MBA #15 Public U.S. News & World Report 2026 Full-Time MBA #15 Public Poets & Quants 2025
Undergraduate program rankings
Program Ranking Scope Publisher Year Undergraduate Accounting Program #6 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Management Program #7 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Finance Program #9 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Marketing Program #9 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Production/Operations Management Program #13 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Business Program #13 Public U.S. News & World Report 2027 Undergraduate Business School #15 Public Poets & Quants 2025
Academics The business school is subdivided into five academic departments: accounting, finance, information & operations management, management, and marketing.
In 2017, the accounting department was renamed to the James Benjamin Department of Accounting in recognition of Benjamin's $4 million gift. In 2022, the finance department was renamed the Adam C. Sinn '00 Department of Finance in recognition of a $20 million gift to support Mays finance students.
In addition to traditional graduation routes, Mays offers five-year programs. In the Professional Program in Accounting, students earn their BBA in accounting and a Master of Science in various disciplines concurrently.
Research Centers Adam C. Sinn Center for Investment Management Phillips 66 Trading Room Center for Applied Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CAEI) Reynolds & Reynolds Sales Leadership Institute Reliant Student Experience Office Center for Retailing Innovation Center for International Business Studies (CIBS) Center for Executive Development Center for Human Resource Management Flippen Leadership Institute
List of Deans
John E. Pearson (1968–1978) William V. Muse (1978–1982) William H. Mobley (1983–1986) A. Benton Cocanougher (1987–2001) Jerry R. Strawser (2001-2015) Eli Jones (2015–2021) Nate Sharp (2023–Present)
Notable faculty Leonard Berry, distinguished professor of marketing R. Duane Ireland, distinguished professor of management and former interim dean Eli Jones, professor of marketing and former dean Venkatesh Shankar, professor of marketing
Notable alumni Cigna COO and President David Cordani '88 Humana CEO and President Bruce Broussard '84 Halliburton CEO, President, and Chairman of the Board Jeff Miller (American businessman) '88 Chicago Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen (American football) Permanent University Fund (UTIMCO) Chief Investment Officer, Teacher Retirement System of Texas Chief Investment Officer, Bridgewater Associates former CEO Thomas Britton Harris IV '80 Koch Industries Co-Owner, CEO, and Chairman Chase Koch Kinder Morgan CEO Kimberly Dang '92 Southwest Airlines CCO Ryan Green '99 Oscar-nominated filmmaker Greg Kwedar '08
Student Organizations
Business Student Council (BSC) Founded in 1968, BSC is responsible for some of the largest events and projects at Texas A&M, including the Business Career Fair, Maysfest, and Mays apparel sales. Functions as an umbrella organization between the Dean's office and the other student organizations at Mays Business School. Aggie Investment Club (AIC) Founded in 2000. Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all majors. Functions include speaker series, Security Analysis Workshops (SAW), and travel series which has included meetings with Warren Buffett, George Mitchell, Sam Zell, and Lee Bass; among others. Run a student-managed $60,000 pod-based equity fund. House Aggie Commodities, specializing in learning about commodity trading. Financial Management Association (FMA) Founded in 1970. Offers introductory career advice for business majors at Texas A&M.
Undergraduate Programs Aggies on Wall Street is an undergraduate finance program focused on investment banking and capital markets. Trading, Risk, and Investments Program (TRIP) is an undergraduate certificate program and graduate pathway focused on energy trading, investments, and risk management. Professional Program of Accounting (PPA) is a five-year integrated bachelor's and master's degree program in accounting and related business disciplines. The Reveille Fund is a student-managed investment fund through which students manage a portion of the investment portfolio of the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO). The Tanner Fund is a student-managed investment fund through which students manage an equity investment portfolio. Titans of Investing is a discussion-based undergraduate course on investing, financial markets, and related economic issues.
See also List of United States business school rankings List of business schools in the United States
References
External links