Why McDonough

By choosing to study at McDonough, you benefit from the school’s location in the global capital city of Washington, D.C., with access to leaders working at national and international business headquarters throughout the region, a robust entrepreneurial community, embassies, policymakers, nonprofits, NGOs, and more.

You gain an interdisciplinary perspective toward building a “business and” approach to issues at the intersection of business and policy, business and sustainability, business and the future of work, or business and health as the school creates partnerships with Georgetown University’s other renowned schools and programs. All McDonough graduates also join the university’s global network of more than 200,000 alumni, as well as access to lifetime career services and lifelong learning opportunities.

And, you enter a community rooted in the Jesuit tradition of caring for others and serving the common good. Faculty and staff care about your overall well-being. Classmates foster a collaborative environment. Diverse voices and perspectives are welcome. And the curriculum makes the connections between adding value to both an organization and to society.

Global Ready Business

The concept of being global is multifaceted, which is why the Georgetown McDonough School of Business prepares students to become global-ready leaders by providing a depth of opportunities as only Georgetown can. From international consulting projects to global social internships, our students gain true global experiences. Professors integrate global case studies into the classroom. The school builds a diverse population of students, faculty, and staff with different backgrounds and viewpoints.

Georgetown McDonough’s global identity is based on three pillars:

D.C. as a Global City

Georgetown McDonough students take advantage of Washington, D.C.’s various global institutions. We also host distinguished world leaders to share their insights with our community.

Tradition of Academic Excellence

Established in 1789, Georgetown University is one of the world’s leading academic and research institutions, offering a unique educational experience that prepares the next generation of global citizens.

Jesuit Values Worldwide

Our students are encouraged to collaborate, forge close friendships, and extend their learning outside of the classroom and beyond campus, even internationally.

D.C. Advantage

Georgetown is located in the global capital city of Washington, D.C., with unparalleled access to the business, government, policy, and diplomatic communities. The university also has more than 200,000 alumni worldwide, creating a lifelong community of support anywhere, anytime.

Georgetown University was founded in 1789 in the nation’s new capital city. With a goal of educating new generations of principled leaders, Georgetown’s location at the intersection of business, policy, and international relations is still relevant today. The D.C. area is home to a vibrant and diverse business community, which is headquarters for numerous organizations, including startups and those focused on technology, real estate, banking, and hospitality. Plus, it is consistently named one of the best cities for young professionals, making it a destination for students and recent graduates to build careers, connections, and explore cultural opportunities.

At Georgetown McDonough, we offer students many “only-in-D.C.” experiences that capture life in a global capital city:

• Students go off campus for immersive site visits and career treks along industry lines.
• Students and faculty partner with organizations like The World Bank and embassies on research projects.
• Research centers regularly host policy briefings on campus or on Capitol Hill to connect academics to practice.
• The school’s MBA Certificate in Nonmarket Strategy promotes a deeper understanding of the ways in which business success and principled leadership are shaped by complex regulatory, political, cultural, and social forces beyond the market.
• Known as a the world’s top hub for entrepreneurial talent, students have opportunities to connect with other startups at the 1776 incubator, at the Georgetown Venture Lab, or through the Venture Fellows program.

Host to more than 200 guest speakers each year, the school often acts as a global convener, attracting dignitaries, business executives, and other leaders to speak on campus while they are in the city. Additionally, the numerous government, business, nonprofit, and NGO leaders who call Washington home regularly spend time in our classrooms as guest lecturers or professors. Discover recent speakers at McDonough.

Beyond Washington, Georgetown University has a global alumni network who are committed to the school and one another. Parents, donors, and other friends of the school regularly seek out ways to give back to the student experience. As a result, students and alumni equally have access to individuals interested in their personal and professional success.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

McDonough Commitment to DEI

Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business is committed to fostering a community that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. The school is committed to understanding the diverse perspectives and experiences of faculty, staff, students, and alumni as it thoughtfully enacts meaningful change within the McDonough community and throughout the world.

Since 2020, a Standing Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion composed of faculty, students, staff, and other McDonough stakeholders has been working to define what DEI means at McDonough, gather data and report on the state of DEI at the school, and make recommendations on where to go next.

Integrated Learning

The McDonough School of Business is fortunate to be one of many great programs at Georgetown. Together, they enhance the university’s global reputation in areas like business, foreign service, public policy, law, medicine, and more.

McDonough students have numerous opportunities to learn about business through multiple lenses:

• Undergraduate students can join students from the School of Foreign Service in a new integrated Dikran Izmirlian Program in Business and Global Affairs degree.
• MBA students can enroll in four dual degree programs, including in foreign service, public policy, law, and medicine.
• Partnership programs like the Master of Arts in International Business and Policy (with the School of Foreign Service) and the Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management (with the Earth Commons and Graduate School) are co-designed and co-taught by professors from throughout the university, blending business, geopolitics, science, and more.

Additionally, faculty are encouraged to work across schools to develop new, interdisciplinary research and scholarship. For example, McDonough faculty have spent many years working with Georgetown’s Institute for Women, Peace, and Security to study whether the business model put forth by the Kate Spade On Purpose label is both sustainable and making a positive impact to women and communities in Africa.

The world’s most pressing issues — like artificial intelligence, climate change, cybersecurity, and global health — fall at the intersection of business and multiple disciplines. Georgetown McDonough graduates are equipped to tackle these challenges with the tools, techniques, and perspectives required in today’s global business world.

Jesuit Tradition

Women and Men For Others

Building upon more than 400 years of Jesuit tradition, Georgetown McDonough educates students to be principled leaders ready to tackle the world’s most complex challenges.

The Society of Jesus, known as the Jesuits, has been an integral part of Georgetown University throughout its history, united in the common spirit of learning and faith that characterize the Jesuit educational tradition of curiosity, inquiry, and reason. With a strong moral and ethical grounding, Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business continues this tradition by preparing disciplined and discerning business professionals with a clear sense of purposeful leadership.

Georgetown University began with the vision of John Carroll, an American-born, European-educated Jesuit priest who returned to the United States in 1773 to establish a preeminent institution of higher learning based in the Jesuit tradition. In 1789, Bishop Carroll acquired land overlooking the Potomac River outside the village of George-Town and founded the Academy at George-Town, later Georgetown University.

As the oldest Catholic and Jesuit university founded in the United States, Georgetown is distinctive for its longtime commitment to the values of the Jesuit tradition. These include the integration of learning, faith and service; care for the whole person; character and conviction; religious truth and interfaith understanding; and a commitment to building a more just world.

Georgetown’s Jesuit tradition is evident throughout the McDonough School of Business curriculum and student life:

• Students take courses rooted in principled leadership, service learning, and developing a global mindset.
• Service to others is woven into curricular and co-curricular activities, such as the Month of Volunteerism, national and international service trips, service-oriented student clubs, and recognition of MBA Community Fellows at graduation.
• There is a collaborative culture where students, faculty, staff, and alumni look after one another.
• Father Ron Anton, a Jesuit priest, serves as the school’s senior advisor for Jesuit identity.
• The school’s service initiatives include the innovative Pivot Program, which provides a liberal arts, business, and entrepreneurship education and an internship to those who were previously incarcerated.
• A certificate program developed for the Jesuit Curia in Rome is teaching leaders within the Jesuit order and the broader Catholic Church how to be discerning leaders.
• Dean Paul Almeida was educated in Catholic and Jesuit schools around the world, leading him to find a home at Georgetown.

[Read Dean Almeida’s Financial Times article about how the teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, are relevant to business education today.]