Menlo College history

Menlo’s tradition of notable athletic competition dates back to 1928, the first year Menlo College fielded athletic teams.

Starting from its origin until 1932, a series of discussion were held between Ray Lyman Wilbur - the president of Stanford University - and C.F. Michaels – the president of the Board of Trustees - about the moving of Menlo Junior College to the Stanford campus.

Wilbur remained interested in Menlo nonetheless, and in 1933, he appointed six members of the Stanford faculty to educational advisory roles at Menlo.

In 1949, Menlo introduced its four-year School of Business Administration (SBA), offering a top ranked undergraduate bachelor’s degree in business.

In 1953 the institution purchased property across the street from the campus to move the track and athletic fields to their current home.

1954 saw the development of two new dormitories for Menlo: Howard Hall and Michaels Hall, named after Doctor Lowry Howard and C. F. Michaels.

John D. Russell became the director of the college in 1955.

The library was named in memory of their son, Timothy Dillon Bowman, who lost his life in an automobile accident during his freshman year at Menlo in 1956.

Belloc named Menlo as one of three beneficiaries of the total trust amount—around $60 million—in response to the college's mentorship of her son, Martin, during the 1962–63 academic year when he was a student.

In fall 1969, Brawner Hall, the new School of Business Administration building, opened.

In the fall of 1971, Menlo became a co-educational institution and admitted its first female students.

The institution initiated its first major fund-raising campaign in 1976.

By 1986, the college began to offer only four-year programs and eliminating the entire two-year degree programs.

Douglass Hall, which had been shut down after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, was renovated and renamed Stent Family Hall.

The College and School formally separated on June 30, 1994.

In 1999 the Arillaga Family Campus opened to house the Middle School.

In 2005 Menlo finished the new Upper School, two large classroom buildings around a central quad, and Martin Family Hall, a lecture and concert hall.

In 2007, Menlo College appointed Doctor G. Timothy Haight, former Dean of Business at California State University, Los Angeles, as its president.

Menlo College received its largest gift to date, a $21.3 million bequest from the Hope Bartnett Belloc Trust, in 2008.

The opening of a 54,000 square foot Athletic Center in 2010 provided the School with two independent courts and state-of-the-art facilities for weight training, fitness, dance, aerobics, and martial arts.

In fall 2011, Menlo College introduced three new majors in Accounting, Finance and Marketing.

In 2012, the School opened the 40,000 square foot Creative Arts and Design Center, with 12 teaching spaces, central art gallery, and digital design center.

In October of 2017, Menlo School opened an improved Student Center along with our own dining hall facility, known as the Menlo School Commons.