The Boston University School of Management takes its centennial birthday celebration to Beijing in March, as part of the international alumni event BU Momentum. SMG turned 100 in 2013 and the celebration continues through 2014.

“Bringing our celebration to Beijing is a pleasure and an honor,” says Kenneth W. Freeman, Allen Questrom Professor and Dean of SMG. “It’s also tremendously appropriate, since many of our graduates have returned to their home regions in Asia and are using their BU training to change the nature of global business for the better. I’m delighted that they can share in our birthday celebration, and I expect that we’ll bring home plenty of new ideas and even closer ties with our Asian colleagues.”

SMG first opened its doors in 1913 as the College of Business Administration. That year, the college enrolled 274 students (including 40 women), a number that would grow steadily to more than 1,400 by 1917—the graduation year of the school’s first day class. Enrollment remained steady, with only slight dips during the Great Depression, until the 1950s and 1960s, when it began dropping below those of other BU schools—partly the result of the very competition among business schools that it had helped create.

In 1971, President John Silber (Hon.’95), who recognized the school’s potential, helped spearhead the name change to more accurately reflect its focus, and CBA became the School of Management in 1974. It began adding master’s degree programs in manufacturing and business administration, including MBAs in health care management and public management, and a doctorate in business administration. In 1996, the school moved into its present home at 595 Commonwealth Avenue. Today, it is among the country’s top business schools. (Bloomberg Businessweek recently ranked the school 18th in US undergraduate business programs, and U.S. News & World Report ranked it 37th of US graduate schools of business.)

On Saturday, March 29, an address by BU President Robert A. Brown will officially open BU Momentum, with remarks from Asian alumni leaders. Following the morning welcome session, participants will attend a luncheon program titled 100 Years Bold: SMG Centennial Celebration, to honor the school’s century of leadership and innovation in business education. Freeman and distinguished alumni of the school will address the gathering.

During the Asian Business Forum that follows the SMG centennial luncheon, there will be several panel sessions that feature SMG alumni and faculty. The first, on private equity investing in Asia, will be led by Robert Knox (CAS’74, GSM’75), chairman of the BU Board of Trustees and BU campaign cochair. Venkat Venkatraman, an SMG professor of management information systems, will moderate the second, on digital technology and its role in revolutionizing business and education. The third will feature Freeman leading a discussion of family businesses and their successes across generations. The dean will also award two Dean’s Medals honoring SMG alumni and their outstanding contributions to global business and to the renown of the School of Management as it enters its second century.

For tickets and more information about BU Momentum, visit bu.edu/beijing2014.