The most common undergraduate degree for CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies is Engineering: with 20% of all CEOs (from 2005 CEO Study: A Statistical Snapshot of Leading CEOs
Another interesting point from the report (at least to those of us who grew up in Madison with a father who taught at the University of Wisconsin (teaching Chemical Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Statistics, in my father’s case, by the way):
For the second year in a row, the University of Wisconsin joins Harvard as the most common undergraduate university attended by S&P 500 CEOs. Prior to 2004, Harvard alone was the most common school attended.
September 1st, 2006 at 4:25 pm
[...] The article discusses many of the explanations for the lack of growth in engineering graduates in the USA and reasons for studying engineering. Some related posts from our blog: Top degree for S&P 500 CEOs? Engineering - Lucrative college degrees - USA Engineering Jobs - Global Share of Engineering Work - Engineers in the Workplace Indeed, a degree in electrical engineering can open many doors, in part because electrical engineering is so broad. Electrical engineers have taken on many tasks that you might expect people with other technical degrees to do. Semiconductor processing, for example, is highly populated by electrical engineers, but its basis is in physics and chemistry. Other areas include optics (as applied to communications), aerospace engineering, and even life sciences. “A lot of people don’t realize that a lot of biomedical devices are actually electrical devices,” noted Georgia Tech’s May. [...]
September 25th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
CEO’s top major…
engineering! 20% of fortune 500 CEOs majored in engineering according to a 2005 survey….
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
I will admit this much, and gladly so. Wisconsin has the penultimate football fight song. In the Walt Disney animated movie of the 60’s, “Robin Hood” an escape scene was directed to show a plump matron running to get through the Sheriff’s men. She tips her brow forward and with a stiff arm, “On Wisconsin” is played and she navigates her way to safety. A subtle tease to the adults in the audience!
It is probably recognized most often, only behind “Notre Dame” and possibly behind “The Eyes of Texas” because of the “railroad” theme. “The Yellow Rose of Texas” and “Deep in the Heart of Texas”, very well known, are not from any school! Wisconsin also has “Varsity” and “Roll out the Barrel”
So, I would call it 1 for Notre Dame, March Grandioso and On Wisconsin as a tie for second.
Wisconsin, Madison, aka the Midwest Office of the Kremlin, should be detached and let loose under a different banner.
I enjoy your site. And, my second son (I have three) is trying to teach me about Quantum Mechanics and
we chat about some theories of Physics. God exists and by definition, is only knowable by His revelation not by our discovery. For if we could define God, He would therefore cease to be God but be only an interesting but obserevable phenomenon. We both do agree that current critical thinking that is not wholey compliant with the “standard model” is shunned and relegated to nonsense. We should at least be allowed to be incorrect. Bohr, Heisenberg, Fermi and even Capernicus were taken as “outside” thinkers. “The greatest obstacle to advancement in science is the illusion of knowledge.”
His desire in engineering is to be in the space program and the complex engineering required for non-Earth construction.
smart Kid’s Dad
Austin, YeeHaw!, Texas
June 5th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
once again more have bachelors degrees in engineering than any other field…