Classes are held at the Gleacher Center located on the banks of the Chicago River, in the heart of the downtown district known as "The Magnificent Mile." The proximity to local businesses makes this an ideal location for the almost 1,700 part-time students and nearly 2,000 executives that take classes here.

The main University of Chicago campus is in Hyde Park, approximately 10 miles south of downtown. The over 100 year old campus is home to 11 schools and colleges, over 12,000 students and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Chicago Booth has 1,125 full time students, in addition to part time students attending classes at the Gleacher Center, the London campus and the Singapore campus.

The University of Chicago is one of the world's great intellectual communities and centers of learning. It has achieved particular distinction through faculty scholarship, the training of graduate students, and an undergraduate education that emphasizes critical thinking and broad, interdisciplinary exposure to the common wisdom of humankind. Few institutions are as well known for advancing knowledge. The first three Americans to win the Nobel Prize in physics were all University of Chicago faculty members. In the last 20 years, Chicago's faculty has been honored with the Nobel Prize 26 more times - eight times in physics, four in chemistry, one in literature, and fourteen in economics.

In all, 82 recipients of the Nobel Prize have been faculty, students or researchers at the University, including economists Milton Friedman, who was cited for his study of monetary policy; Theodore Schultz, who showed the relationship between education and economic development; George Stigler, who was cited for his research on government regulation; Merton Miller, who assessed the use of debt as a source of corporate capital; Gary Becker, who applied an economic approach to diverse aspects of human behavior; Robert Fogel, who applied economics and statistics to the analysis of history; Robert Lucas, who developed and applied the hypothesis of rational expectations and transformed traditional macroeconomic analysis; and Myron Scholes, who won the award for the work he did to explain the pricing of stock options with the late Fisher Black, also a former University of Chicago faculty member. Seven of these Nobel laureates are currently active members of the faculty.

The University of Chicago was founded by John D. Rockefeller in 1890 and its first president was William Rainey Harper. Their vision for the institution was to create a modern research university, combining an English-style undergraduate college and a German-style graduate research institute. The University of Chicago quickly fulfilled Harper and Rockefeller's dreams by becoming a national leader in higher education and research. Their visionary spirit continues to inspire the work performed at the University of Chicago. Its scholarship is marked by a willingness to challenge conventional thinking and a desire to explore uncharted territory. As a result, the University has always been on the leading edge of discovery. Rockefeller proudly called the University of Chicago "the best investment I ever made."

A leader in higher education, Chicago has earned a celebrated reputation as a "teacher of leaders." Currently, 67 University of Chicago alumni serve as presidents or provosts of colleges and universities internationally. More than 50 of its graduates are deans of leading business schools, and over 470 of its alumni hold the title of C.E.O. of their organizations.