$100 Million Gift to Chicago Booth’s Executive MBA Program
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business has announced a landmark $100 million donation from entrepreneur and investor Konstantin Sokolov, MBA ’05, to support its Executive MBA Program. In recognition of this transformational gift—one of the largest ever made to an executive MBA program globally—Booth will rename the program the Sokolov Executive MBA Program.
The donation will significantly bolster the school’s ability to attract top global talent, deepen its career and leadership offerings, and evolve its curriculum in step with an increasingly complex business world.
A Global Program with Historic Roots
Launched in 1943, Booth’s EMBA was a trailblazer—created during WWII to address the urgent need for trained administrators. What began as a Chicago-based cohort of 52 students has evolved into a prestigious, 21-month global program spanning three campuses—Chicago, London, and Hong Kong—serving hundreds of experienced professionals each year.
With this gift, Booth will expand its ability to deliver on its core promise: providing mid- to senior-level leaders with the intellectual tools, peer network, and strategic insights to accelerate their careers and lead confidently on the global stage.
Honoring a Booth Journey
Sokolov, a private equity investor and founder of IJS Investments, credits Booth with playing a foundational role in his personal and professional development. Born in the former Soviet Union, Sokolov immigrated to the U.S. at age 21 and became a leader in infrastructure investments across telecommunications, energy, and financial services.
“Two decades after my graduation, the lessons I learned, the experiences I gained, and the friendships I forged at Booth remain the foundation of my career and my life,” said Sokolov. “The school’s relentless pursuit of knowledge is an inspiration, and I hope my support will contribute to its continued success.”
This is not Sokolov’s first contribution to the school. In 2024, he made an unrestricted gift that led to renaming the student lounge at Gleacher Center—Booth’s downtown Chicago home base for the Executive MBA.
Driving the Future of Executive Education
The $100 million investment will also establish a new clinical professorship focused on teaching within the Executive MBA Program and provide additional scholarship and operational support. It will also strengthen Booth’s global leadership development offerings, which include personalized coaching, peer networking opportunities, and executive engagement across all three campuses.
Dean Madhav Rajan emphasized that Sokolov’s gift ensures Booth can continue adapting to the shifting business landscape. “The Sokolov Executive MBA Program will continue to educate future generations of leaders, giving students the insight and skills they need to move people and organizations to success,” he said.
President Paul Alivisatos added, “With this extraordinary gift, Konstantin Sokolov offers a powerful testament to the impact of the education provided by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.”
As the first Executive MBA program of its kind, Booth’s offering has evolved over more than 80 years to meet the needs of experienced professionals. The newly named Sokolov Executive MBA Program continues that legacy, supported by a gift intended to strengthen its global reach and long-term relevance.
This article is based on information from an official press release and a news story published by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
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Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
Kate
Kate served in the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School for over five years. In her capacity as an Associate Director, Kate advised applicants daily and reviewed hundreds of applications per cycle. She was also an applicant interviewer, a liaison to other offices within the School, and a CBS representative at events around the world. Kate managed several recruiting and operational projects for the Admissions Committee. After Columbia Business School, Kate transitioned into cam ...
×Holly
Holly worked as a member of the NYU Stern MBA Admissions team for seven years and holds an MBA from NYU Stern. In her tenure as Director of NYU MBA Admissions, Holly worked closely with admissions teams from Columbia, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Duke Fuqua on recruiting events domestically and internationally. On the NYU Stern admissions committee, Holly conducted interviews, planned and hosted events, and trained staff on reading and interviewi ...
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