CUNY Bernard M Baruch College

The Free Academy Baruch College is one of the senior colleges in the CUNY system. Its roots go back to the 1847 founding of the Free Academy, [ 3 ] the first institution of free public higher education in the United States. The New York State Literature Fund was created to serve students who could not afford to enroll in New York City's private colleges. The Fund led to the creation of the Committee of the Board of Education of the City of New York, led by Townsend Harris , J.S. Bosworth, and John L. Mason, which brought about the establishment of what would become the Free Academy, on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan. [ citation needed ] The Free Academy became the College of the City of New York, now The City College of New York (CCNY). In 1919, what would become Baruch College was established as City College School of Business and Civic Administration . [ 4 ] On December 15, 1928, the cornerstone was laid on the new building which would house the newly founded school. At this point, the school did not admit women. At the time it opened it was considered the biggest such school for the teaching of business education in the United States. [ 5 ] The original building which housed the college on 23rd Street , known as the Lawrence and Eris Field Building, is still in use today. By the 1930s, women were enrolled in the School of Business. The total enrollment at CCNY reached an all-time high of 40,000 students in 1935, and the School of Business had an enrollment of more than 1,700 students in the day session alone. In 1953, it was renamed the Baruch School of Business in honor of Bernard Baruch , an 1889 graduate of CCNY who went on to become a prominent financier and adviser to two presidents. In 1961, the New York State Education Law established the City University of New York (CUNY) system. In 1968, the Baruch School of Business was spun off as Baruch College , an independent senior college in the CUNY system.

[ citation needed ] The first president of the new college (1969–1970) was the previous Federal Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Robert C. Weaver . In 1971, the college appointed Clyde Wingfield, a noted educator, as its president. He was succeeded by economist Joel Edwin Segall in 1977. Segall recruited several well-known faculty members to the School of Business and established the college's permanent home on Lower Lexington Avenue. [ 6 ] Matthew Goldstein was president of the school from 1991 to 1998 (he later went on to serve as the Chancellor of CUNY from 1999 to 2013). He was responsible for raising admissions requirements and creating the School of Public Affairs in 1994. Edward Regan , former comptroller of New York state , served as president from 2000 to 2004. During his tenure, test scores rose, student retention rates increased, and many new faculty members were hired. [ 7 ] In 2001, the Vertical Campus opened and Baruch College accepted its first students from the CUNY Honors College, now known as the Macaulay Honors College . The college also implemented a common core curriculum for all undergraduates. [ citation needed ] Kathleen Waldron became the president in 2004. Under Waldron, Baruch College received large donations from its alumni, which resulted in the Vertical Campus, 23rd Street building, and Performing Arts complex being renamed in honor of the three largest donors respectively. [ 8 ] Alumni giving has increased under "Baruch Means Business," a $150 million capital campaign. [ 9 ] In August 2009, Waldron resigned from her position to become a University Professor at the Graduate Center . Stan Altman, the former dean of the School of Public Affairs from 1999 to 2005, was named interim president. [ 10 ] On February 22, 2010, Mitchel Wallerstein , dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University , was appointed as the president of the college.

He took office on August 2, 2010, [ 11 ] and remained until June 30, 2020, after which he became a University Professor at CUNY. Under his leadership, Baruch College established degree programs with universities globally, ranked as a top college for social mobility, and achieved the best graduation rate within the CUNY system. [ 12 ] Baruch College was the scene of student protests in 2011 as a result of tuition hikes [ 13 ] resulting in arrests. [ 13 ] S. David Wu is the president of Baruch College, taking office on July 1, 2020. [ 14 ] In October 2025, the nearby 23rd Street subway station was renamed 23rd Street–Baruch College after the college. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] Presidents of Baruch College This section does not cite any sources . ( January 2021 ) More information President, Tenure ... President Tenure 1. Robert Weaver 1968–1970 2. Clyde Wingfield 1971–1976 3. Joel Segall 1977–1990 Joyce Brown (interim) 1990–1991 4. Matthew Goldstein 1991–1998 Lois S. Cronholm (interim) 1998–1999 Sidney Lirtzman (interim) 1999–2000 5. Edward Regan 2000–2004 6. Kathleen Waldron 2004–2009 Stan Altman (interim) 2009–2010 7. Mitchel Wallerstein 2010–2020 8. S. David Wu 2020–present Close

Baruch College is composed of three academic schools, the Zicklin School of Business , the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences , and the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs . [ 17 ] The Newman Vertical Campus is home to the Zicklin School of Business and Weissman School of Arts and Sciences. The Zicklin School of Business grants a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree in 19 different business-related areas, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in 14 business-related areas, and a Masters of Science (MS) in 8 business-related programs. [ 18 ] The Weissman School of Arts and Sciences grants a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in over 27 different arts and science-related areas, a Masters of Arts (MA) in Corporate Communications and Mental Health Counseling, and a Masters of Science (MS) in Financial Engineering and Industrial-Organizational Psychology. [ 19 ] The Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs grants a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Public Affairs, a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) in 5 different public affairs-related areas, an Executive MPA, a Masters of International Affairs (MIA), and a Masters of Science in education (MSEd) in Higher Education Administration. [ 20 ] The college also houses several doctoral (PhD) programs offered through the CUNY Graduate Center. They include Business (with specializations in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Marketing, Organizational Behavior, or Operations and Decision Analytics) as well as Industrial and Organizational Psychology . [ 21 ] [ 22 ] As of June 2013, the CUNY PhD in Business degree is offered jointly by the Graduate Center and Baruch College. [ 23 ]