The roots of the Joseph M. Bryan School of Business and Economics began in 1892 when the Commercial Department was established as one of the three original departments of the State Normal and Industrial School. In 1918, the Department of Economics and Sociology was founded. In 1919, it was renamed the Department of Sociology and Economics in 1919. Sixteen years later, in 1935, the two subjects split and an independent Department of Economics was created. In 1940, the Department of Economics broadened its title to the Department of Business Education and Secretarial Administration. In 1963, a new Department of Economics and Business Administration was established, to compliment the existing business department.
In November 1969, upon the recommendation of UNCG Chancellor James S. Ferguson to UNC President William C. Friday, the University of North Carolina’s Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the School of Business and Economics at UNCG. The new school was formed by combining the Department of Economics and Business Administration and the Department of Business Education and Secretarial Administration.
Deans of the Bryan School of Business and Economics
- David H. Shelton (1970-1983)
- Philip Friedman (1984-1990)
- James K. Week (1991-2011)
- McRae C. Banks II (2011- )