About MBAA International

What does MBAA International stand for?

We could say that MBAA International stands for a high quality, high value, multidisciplinary gathering of leaders from around the world with almost a half century of history to present and receive useful research, share effective pedagogy, and network in a fun and familiar setting.

We could say that—and it would be true. Nobody has been doing what we do for as long as we’ve been doing it—some people say that MBAA International invented the multidisciplinary conference. I don’t really know about that but I do know that it’s a great group of people that have served as the professional anchor to my own academic career since 198— the year of my first ever academic publication—right here at MBAA International.

We could also say that way back in 1985, I submitted my first ever paper for review to an organization known as the “Midwest Business Administration Association”—and it would be true.

We were founded in 1964 by a group of professors from leading Midwestern universities including the Indiana University and the University of Kansas.

We grew and we grew—in both reach and reputation—so that we came to have regular participants from all 50 states and dozens of countries. It didn’t seem right to keep calling ourselves Midwest—it just wasn’t true.
We talked about it for a while and like the good professors we are, we took a survey. Someone mentioned that AACSB International went through more or less the same process—expansion in their reach and reputation—and they, like us, didn’t want to abandon decades of brand identity with their familiar AACSB moniker.

So AACSB became AACSB International. It seemed to our membership that if it works for them it ought to work for us, so we became MBAA International. So now MBAA stands for MBAA and it represents a lot of people from a lot of places. And now you know.

Jeff Clark
Executive Director
MBAA International