College of Business History

Founding of St. Procopious College in Pilsen Neighborhood of Chicago

Mar 2, 1887

Rev. Eldephonse Wittman, O.S.B., bookkeeping instructor, succeeds Fr. Neuzil as rector

Apr 26, 1894

St. Procopius Abbey purchases Morris Neff farm, 104 acres, in Lisle, Il

Apr 26, 1896

Groundbreaking for Lisle campus

Apr 19, 1900

Benedictine Hall is dedicated

Apr 23, 1901

Two programs were offered: a classical and a commerical (the earliest form of the business program

Commercial program integrated into college prep (classical) program

Apr 26, 1915

First English language catalog printed

Sep 26, 1916

Enrollment at St. Procopius reaches 205 students

Sep 26, 1917

First typewriter on campus

Jan 1, 1921

St. Procopius Alumni Association formed

May 18, 1926

School faces losses in enrollments and income due to Great Depression

Sep 26, 1929

Fr. Francis Sindelar travels over 9000 miles throught U.S. to solicit alumni support for school

Jun 26, 1934

5 instructors added to faculy; bookkeeping added to seminary courses

Mar 1, 1936

First Economic Club meeting

Nov 1, 1937

State of the art charts and maps purchased for Economics classes

Nov 26, 1938

New class added: Accounting and Dynamics

Feb 25, 1941

Students promote investing in defense bonds to help war effort

Jan 16, 1942

Enrollment reaches 201, first time over 200 since before WWII

Sep 26, 1950

Groundbreaking for first freestanding residence hall, Jaeger Hall

Nov 8, 1950

College reoorganizes to gain accreditation from North Central Association

Jan 26, 1955

New Economics professor hired

Jun 26, 1959

First computer on campus acquired by Richard Shonka

Sep 4, 1962

Institute for Management conducts first classes.

Mar 26, 1965

This program for managers is supported by sponsoring corporations who enroll students in the four year evening school

Groundbreaking for Scholl Hall

Aug 26, 1967

SPC goes fully coeducational

Sep 5, 1968

Abbey members vote to accept BOT recommendation to change name to Illinois Benedictine College

Dec 22, 1970

discussions about adding Business Economics major being

Apr 26, 1971

Test for graduate studies in business offered

Sep 22, 1972

First evening classes for business and economics offered

Nov 17, 1972

Business and Economics becomes newest, largest department

Oct 3, 1973

Accounting major approved

May 26, 1974

New Business Club formed

Oct 4, 1974

First graduate program, an MBA, announced

Feb 1, 1975

Institute for Management at IBC becomes credit granting institution

Apr 26, 1975

New Economics club formed

Sep 26, 1975

First MBA classes begin

Sep 5, 1976

Accounting career awareness program started

Jan 16, 1977

4 new Economics concentrations offered

Apr 15, 1977

teaching shortage in Eoncomics

Apr 26, 1978

Department name formally changed from Economics to Economics and Business

Apr 26, 1978

First graduate degrees, through MBA program, conferred

Dec 14, 1978

Economics Department expands

Apr 26, 1979

Business Economics plans to add International course

Apr 26, 1980

2nd Annual Business Bangquet held

May 26, 1981

Business and Computer Science become most popular majors

Oct 26, 1984

Graduate programs in Management and organization behavior, organizational development added

Jan 26, 1986

Marketing course added

Apr 26, 1987

New majors in business and econ added

Mar 26, 1988

Mgmt Information Systems confers first graduate degree

May 26, 1988

Grant received for new institute for international marketing

Sep 16, 1988

Course in Japanese business and culture added

Sep 26, 1991

IBC Small Business Institute wins 2nd award

Oct 26, 1994

European exchange program for Business majors

Nov 26, 1997

Dual degree program for International Business with German university

Mar 26, 1998

MBA program goes online

Aug 26, 2002

MBA program expands to China

Feb 26, 2005