Way back in the winter of 1972, the first cohort of 28 participants from around the globe arrived to undertake a year’s Program for Junior Executives at IMEDE in the Swiss city of Lausanne on the shores of Lac Léman. Two years later their course and qualification would be recognized as an MBA, the most widely sought-after post-graduate qualification for a business manager.

Just a few years later in 1978, another group of 30 joined their MBA program at CEI (later to become IMI) in Geneva on the far western corner of the same lake.
Little did these two groups know that their MBA programs would become one in 1990, when IMI and IMEDE merged to become IMD. Neither did they know that in 2022, they and all the other thousands of MBA graduates from these three institutions would be at the heart of a weekend of celebration at IMD to mark 50 years of this prestigious qualification.

But even though 50 years have gone by, they would still recognize the MBA they worked so hard and intensely to achieve. Yes, of course, it has evolved and adapted to anticipate future trends and respond to the changing demands placed on leaders. The IMD ethos of continual innovation, of “Challenging what is, inspiring what could be” has meant that over the years the MBA has adapted in many radical ways. But it has remained true to its roots and values, to timeless principles around real-world understanding and developing leaders.