1996
Wharton Professor Mike Useem’s first daylong visit to the Gettysburg battlefield with Executive MBA students
1998
Two-week trek in the Himalayas to the Mount Everest region for MBA and Executive MBA students launches
2000
The first official Wharton Leadership Venture — a two-day MBA/Executive MBA intensive with the U.S. Marines at Officer Candidates School in Quantico, VA
2001
The first Ecuador one-week MBA venture to climb Cotopaxi
2002
The first undergraduate venture — a daylong hike at Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania
2003
Mike Useem, journalist Jerry Useem, and writer/investor Paul Asel publish Upward Bound: Nine Original Accounts of How Business Leaders Reached Their Summits, featuring Wharton Leadership Ventures partners Rodrigo Jordan and Chris Warner and other thought leaders.
2004
The inaugural Antarctica weeklong MBA venture led by Mike Useem and Wharton Leadership Ventures partner Vertical; MBA Venture Fellows program is formalized
2005
The Undergraduate Wharton Leadership Ventures program launches with its first expedition: climbing the Grand Teton with Exum Mountain Guides.
2007
Preston Cline joins MBA Ventures; Jeff Klein becomes director of the Wharton Graduate Leadership Program.
2010
Multi-day venture for Executive MBA graduates in Normandy, France; one-week hikes in the Swiss Alps and Dolomite Alps offered as part of international ventures for MBA/Executive MBA alumni
2011
The Fire Department of New York hosts Wharton faculty and staff for a leadership symposium that generates the FDNY Leadership Venture.
2012
First FDNY Venture run for Wharton MBA students, which continues to this day
2014
Reorganization of Wharton Leadership Ventures (undergraduate and MBA) begins and lasts through 2016
2016
Anne Welsh McNulty WG79 provides a transformational gift for the leadership program, which is renamed the Anne and John McNulty Leadership Program.
2016–2017
The undergraduate Venture Fellows program is launched, creating a training structure and establishing parity with the MBA Wharton Leadership Ventures.
2022
The first Leadership Venture is added to a for-credit course as part of Professor Sarah Light’s climate leadership offering for undergrads.
2023
A meaningful gift from Serhan Seçmen WG06 provides accessibility for students and supports Wharton Leadership Ventures’ ongoing efforts for long-term sustainability.
2025
Celebrating the 25th year of Wharton Leadership Ventures
Published as “Wharton Leadership Ventures Milestones” in the Fall/Winter 2025 issue of Wharton Magazine.
