About the Center

Developing business leaders with a global mindset, the Ahlers Center for International Business at the University of San Diego is one of the few privately endowed centers for international business in the world providing a wide array of opportunities for USD students and faculty as well as the business community.

The Ahlers Center for International Business was founded in 1994 with a generous endowment from the estate of John and Carolyn Ahlers to enhance international business education at the University of San Diego.

Given a lifetime of international business and service, the Ahlers believed that globalization had increased the need for managers to be developed with special skills and knowledge to handle the challenges and opportunities of an international marketplace.

The Ahlers Center provides a number of programs to strengthen and acquire this needed expertise among faculty, students, and the business community. This has resulted in faculty with international expertise offering a variety of international courses and perspectives, students interested and experienced in international business, and a strong network with international business leaders.

These activities link faculty, students, and international business leaders to share ideas and develop knowledge to operate more effectively in a global business environment.

Partner Universities

The Ahlers Center for International Business has strategic partnerships with several universities abroad. Through these partnerships, USD students participate in semester exchange programs, short-term study abroad programs and consulting projects with students from these universities. Conversely, the Ahlers Center accepts exchange students each academic year, not only enriching the experiences of these exchange students, but the experiences of the students here at the University of San Diego.