Colleges Where Top CEOs Earned Their Degrees
A strong academic foundation can help today's students become the top CEOs of tomorrow.
Students don't have to attend a top-ranked institution to build career success. The CEOs who run the top 100 companies in the nation, according to the 2016 Fortune 500 list, attended a variety of colleges.
For example, C. Douglas McMillon, CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the No. 1 company on Fortune's list, graduated from the University of Arkansas with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Phebe Novakovic, CEO of General Dynamics Corp., a company that designs and builds aerospace and defense products like submarines and military weapons, attended Smith College, a private liberal arts college for women. Novakovic is one of the few women who lead a top 100 company. General Dynamics is No. 88 on the Fortune 500 list.
Fortune magazine, which annually ranks the 500 largest companies by revenue, released its list earlier this month. U.S. News evaluated the educational backgrounds of the CEOs at the top 100 companies. Business, finance, economics and engineering were popular degree choices among the top 100. Most of the CEOs studied at public, state colleges or other National Universities.
Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson -- No. 39 on the Fortune list -- is an example of a top CEO who didn't have the traditional college experience. Gorsky earned a Bachelor of Science at the United States Military Academy, commonly referred to as West Point, and served six years in the army before he began his career at Johnson & Johnson as a sales representative. Gorsky eventually earned a master 's degree in business administration at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, according to the company's website.
At least seven of the top CEOs attended international universities to earn their undergraduate degrees. The universities for three of the top 100 CEOs couldn't be confirmed by U.S. News.
The table below highlights the schools that were attended by at least two of the top 100 CEOs.
School (state) | Number of CEO graduates | U.S. News National Universities rank |
|---|---|---|
Cornell University (NY) | 4 | 15 (tie) |
Harvard University (MA) | 4 | 2 |
3 | 70 (tie) | |
2 | 194 (tie) | |
Brown University (RI) | 2 | 14 |
2 | 29 | |
2 | 47 (tie) | |
Purdue University (IN) | 2 | 61 (tie) |
Sources: Company websites, Fortune magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, LinkedIn, college and university websites.
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Briana Boyington is an education Web producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at bboyington@usnews.com.
