Notre Dame is Number 1 Executive Producer in Finance

Apparently Notre Dame leads all schools in producing executives at ‘top’ financial firms.  Cornell, Harvard, Colgate, and Penn all tied at second.  Notre Dame’s undergraduate Mendoza (this name is associated with mediocrity in baseball) School of Business is the top undergrad business program in the country, according to BusinessWeek.

Of course, the term ‘top’ financial firm is somewhat loaded.  One of the Notre Dame CEOs referenced was the chief at PNC Financial Services Group.  While this is certainly respectable, I am not sure one can consider any financial firm without a location in Manhattan/Jersey City as a ‘top’ financial firm.  Another firm mentioned was Erie Indemnity, a company that I have never heard of despite living minutes from the shore of Lake Erie (Erie Indemnity is located in Erie, PA, about an hour from my house).  In other words, this entire story seems to be an attempt to marginalize the superiority of Ivy League schools (how condescending am I?).  Saying that the best schools do not produce as many leaders in the world’s most competitive industry serves to diminish their luster.

But I am interested to see the number of ‘top’ financial CEOs relative to student body size.  My guess is that the Notre Dame leprechaun would not look quite as tough.