School History

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University first opened its doors in 1970 in an elegant villa in the suburb of Kralingen, Rotterdam. From these humble beginnings, RSM has grown into one of Europe’s most successful and internationally-recognised business schools, as reflected in the rankings of international media such as Financial Times and Wall Street Journal. 

Erasmus University 

The roots of RSM stretch back to 1913, and the founding of Erasmus University (then the Netherlands School of Commerce). Originally a business-oriented institution, the Netherlands School of Commerce was a private initiative established with the support of the Rotterdam business community. 

The idea of establishing a separate field of study dedicated to the subject of ‘business administration’ surfaced in 1964. In 1966, Erasmus University (then the Netherlands School of Economics), commissioned an investigation into the feasibility of founding a Graduate School of Management. The result, inaugurated in 1969, was the ‘Interfaculteit Bedrijfskunde/Graduate School of Management’, a joint initiative of the schools of economics, law and social sciences of the Netherlands School of Economics, and the schools of civil, mechanical and maritime engineering and general sciences at the Delft University of Technology 

Graduate School of Management

The first 30 students began classes in the innovative two-year ‘Post-kandidaats Programme’ (equivalent to a master’s) at the Graduate School of Management in 1970 – then situated in Kralingen, Rotterdam. The school became the first in the Netherlands to offer the degree “Doctorandus in de Bedrijfskunde” Post-kandidaats (equivalent to master’s-level), for students with a university qualification in a non-business discipline. 

In 1972, the school moved to new premises in Delft, and once again was remodelled, this time as the Interuniversities Institute for Business Administration (‘Interuniversitair Instituut Bedrijfskunde’ or IIB). It had only one division, the ‘Interuniversitaire Interfaculteit Bedrijfskunde/Graduate School of Management Delft’. In November of the same year, the first 29 students graduated with the new academic degree ‘Doctorandus in de Bedrijfskunde’ (Drs.). The alumni association was formally established this same day: the Alumni Association VIB, the ‘Vereniging van afgestudeerden van de Interfaculteit Bedrijfskunde’. 

Internationalisation 

In 1975, the curriculum was revised and, from 1977 onwards, the focus turned towards the internationalisation of the school. The first exchange programme was established with Wharton in 1986. The number of English-language modules with an international focus expanded. In 1984, the four-year ‘doctorandus’ programme was launched. The first European CEMS master’s degree was conferred in 1991, a result of RSM’s assimilation into the prestigious CEMS network. 

In 1986 the Graduate School of Management Delft was moved back to the premises of Erasmus University, and re-named the Faculty of Business Administration. The doctoral programme was established in the same year. In 1993, the ERASM research school was founded, bringing together researchers from the Faculty of Business Administration and the School of Economics. Known today as the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), it has since become one of Europe’s leading management research facilities. 

In 2003, the international bachelor programme (IBA) was established – an English-language programme with a recruitment target of 50% of students from outside the Netherlands. 

Rotterdam School of Management 

Meanwhile, in 1966 a consensus on the lack of suitable training and higher educational facilities for managers in the Netherlands, spurred Dutch-based multinationals including Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever and Philips to establish the Foundation for Business Administration, an institute for postgraduate management education, later the Rotterdam School of Management. 

The founding fathers of the Rotterdam School of Management (each donated 2 million gulden) included: 

• Royal Dutch Shell 
• Algemene Kunstzijde Unie  
• Koninklijke Zout/Ketjen (AKZO NOBEL)  
• Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank  
• Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN AMRO)  
• Unilever  
• Philips Gloeilampen fabriek  
• Koninklijke Hoogovens en Staalfabrieken (CORUS) 

In 1985, the Rotterdam School of Management launched its now famous and highly-successful International Fulltime MBA programme, initially offered in both Dutch and English. In 1986, the ‘Post-kandidaats’ IMSEC exchange programme was absorbed into the MBA and a new IMScEC ‘doctorandus’ programme was launched.

In 2003, RSM joined with four top school’s located in three continents to create the Global Executive OneMBA, the world’s first truly global MBA programme. 

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University

In 2004, Rotterdam School of Management merged with Erasmus University's Faculty of Business Administration and the Erasmus Research Institute of Management to become Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM). Bolstered by the complementary resources of each institute, the newly-merged RSM has since gone from strength to strength. 

In 2006, the MSc General Management was established – a new master’s for non-business graduates. The school has continued to internationalise, today claiming a place amongst the most international schools in Europe. In 2008, the school welcomed, George Yip, a highly-successful and internationally-established academic and corporate guest speaker with twelve years business experience as a dean.