History of belonging at SC Johnson College
Our history and impact
From the enrollment of pioneering students and faculty to the creation of programs, organizations and spaces that support belonging, the college’s history reflects decades of progress across business education. These milestones highlight how students, faculty and alumni helped expand access, strengthen community and open new opportunities across our three schools.
1948
Jane Stevens ’45, MBA ’48, the only woman in the inaugural class of 41 students in the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration (the Johnson School’s predecessor), graduates as the first woman to earn a Cornell MBA.
1950
Wilbur Parker ’50 is the first Black graduate to earn a Cornell MBA. Throughout his career, Parker works to make a difference by combating racial injustice and helping others.
A World War II veteran, Parker was one of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ famed Tuskegee Airmen. In 1954, he became the first Black CPA in New Jersey, and in 1962, he became the first Black budget director for the city of Newark, NJ. In 1970, he became the first Black secretary of Newark’s Board of Education.
1980
The Black and Hispanic Graduate Business Students Association launches, initially focused on professional networking and academic, social and well-being support, later expanding its mission to increase recruitment of minority students.
1984
The Cornell Business Women’s Association is founded. Renamed the Women’s Management Council in 1990, the club focuses on increasing the enrollment of women, as well as promoting and supporting women in business.
Four School of Hotel Administration students start a small on-campus club — the Society of Minority Hoteliers (SMH) — to support minority students searching for summer internships and career networking opportunities in hospitality. This group paves the way for future iterations of the club.
1994
The Johnson School joins the Robert Toigo Foundation’s MBA program for underrepresented minorities who plan to pursue careers in finance.
1999
The Johnson School launches the Office for Women and Minorities in Business, now known as the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), with Angela Noble-Grange MBA ’94 as founding director.
Noble-Grange proposed the new office to increase programming designed to attract and retain diverse students, enrich the pipeline of women and underrepresented minority leaders into corporate America, and foster a greater understanding of what constitutes an inclusive environment among all Johnson School students, faculty and staff.
2000
The Johnson School hosts its first Johnson Means Business event, a fall recruiting weekend designed to bring prospective underrepresented minority and LGBTQ+ applicants to campus.
The Johnson School’s Black Graduate Student Association is created under the leadership of Marmeline Petion-Midy ’95 MBA ’00. In 2019, she is honored with the Wilbur Parker Distinguished Alumni Award, renamed the Wilbur Parker Inclusion Award in 2025.
2003
The Black Graduate Business Association honors Wilbur Parker ’50, MBA ’50, Cornell’s first Black MBA graduate, with the inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award.
The award, later named in Parker’s honor, recognizes Black alumni who demonstrate outstanding professional achievement and embody the Johnson School’s values of mutual respect, collaboration, integrity and investment in self.
The Hispanic American Business Leaders Association (HABLA) is founded under the leadership of Marcella Ayala, MBA ’04.
The Out for Business (O4B) club for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) Johnson School students, their partners and active allies, is founded.
2004
John Rodney Clark Sr., MBA ’72 receives the Wilbur Parker Distinguished Alumni Award.
Partnership begins with Forté, a consortium of major corporations, top business schools and influential nonprofits, whose mission is to “launch women into fulfilling, significant careers through access to business education, professional development and a community of successful women.”
2009
The Johnson School joins the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, an elite nonprofit that promotes diversity and inclusion in global business education and leadership through admissions, recruitment, networking and career development activities.
2010
The Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is founded.
The Johnson School hosts its inaugural Diversity Symposium, a student-led collaboration between the Black Graduate Business Association, the Latino Business Students Association (now the Latin American Business Association) and Cornell’s undergraduate Minority Business Students Association.
Ken Gurrola, MBA ’95 receives the Distinguished Latino Alumni Award, created to recognize alumni for significant contributions to their professions, community and society as a whole.
The Johnson School holds its first Johnson Women in Business (JWiB) hosting weekend, an opportunity for prospective women students to experience what life at the Johnson School is like through class visits, seminars and networking.
The Johnson School holds its first annual MBA Women in Investing Conference, founded by Lakshmi Bhojraj ’95, MBA ’01, Breazzano Family Executive Director of the Parker Center for Investment Research.
2013
The Johnson Women in Technology Conference is cofounded by Melissa Carr Adeyanju and Sarah Markels Maynard, both MBA ’14, to engage, connect and inspire women to pursue their passion in technology.
2014
The Distinguished Latino Alumni Award is renamed the Carlos R. Quintanilla Distinguished Latino Alumni Award in honor of the 1980 MBA alum. Quintanilla received the award in 2011 in recognition of his championing the school’s efforts in Latin America and his philanthropy in developing student scholarship opportunities.
2015
The Nolan School’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion is founded with Victor Younger named as founding director; the Nolan Enhancement Committee also forms.
2017
Professor David Wooten named founding associate dean of diversity and inclusion for the SC Johnson College of Business.
The Fiery Topics discussion series launches to provide a forum for students, faculty and staff to confront headlines of the day, think about unconscious biases, and have open conversations focused on ensuring that everyone is treated equally, respectfully and fairly.
Sandwiches and Sage Advice is founded by Johnson School female faculty members as a way to connect informally with women students.
2018
The Dyson School Office of Diversity and Inclusion is founded, with Dr. Jennifer Majka named as founding director.
The Dyson School holds its inaugural Diversity Week.
The Johnson School’s Diversity Council is founded to bring student leaders of various affinity groups into important conversations about administrative decisions and initiatives.
Johnson Allies for Women (JAWS) now known as Student Allies for Gender Equity (SAGE) launches to engage male allies in productive, action-oriented conversations about gender equity through programming, social activities and support for Women’s Management Council initiatives.
Women of Johnson Wednesdays launches to celebrate the school’s progress in advancing female leadership in business through guest speakers, lunch-and-learns, workshops and social events.
2019
Dyson Pride is founded.
Faculty Fellows for Inclusive Excellence is founded at the Dyson School.
BlackGen Capital, the first minority-owned student investment fund at Cornell University, is formed.
The Dyson School offers the class The Business Case for Diversity (AEM 2015) for the first time. The course fulfills the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) diversity requirement.
The Johnson School’s ODI expands its reach to include and engage with Johnson Cornell Tech MBA students in New York City.
Access Johnson, a business club for self-identified neurodiverse and disabled students and their advocates, is founded to increase support for and awareness of disability and neurodiversity.
Business Students of Color Coalition wins Cornell University’s Student and Campus Life DEI Award.
2020
Associate Professor Michelle Duguid is named associate dean of diversity, inclusion, and belonging for the SC Johnson College of Business.
Dyson Diversity Council forms.
2022
Nicole LaFave is named assistant director of diversity, inclusion and belonging for the SC Johnson College of Business; Patty Gabriel is named program and office coordinator.
A new discussion series, Johnson Talks Race, launches; at these monthly meetings, students talk about race and anti-racism within the United States and around the world.
2023
The Community Cafe Series is founded at the Dyson School.
Accelerator Scholars program for first-generation undergraduate students at the Dyson School and Nolan School launches.
2024
Nolan Student Diversity Council is founded.
Nolan School ODI launches the Chat with a Professor program.
Explore the History
Learn more about the university-wide inclusion history, from Ezra Cornell’s founding vision to reaffirming a commitment to Indigenous communities and nations in the region and beyond.