What McDonald's training facility began in 1961 with a class of 14 people?

The McDonald’s training facility that began in 1961 with a class of 14 people was Hamburger University. It was created to train restaurant managers and develop consistent operating standards.

The program began in the basement of a McDonald’s restaurant in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Fred L. Turner, then a grill cook and later a major McDonald’s executive, helped lead the early training effort. The curriculum went far beyond cooking hamburgers, covering restaurant operations, leadership, service, and management.

Hamburger University later moved into a dedicated campus at McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. In 2018, the company relocated its headquarters and the facility to Chicago’s West Loop. Its students have included restaurant managers, franchisees, and corporate employees.

The name is playful, but the institution reflects McDonald’s emphasis on standardization. Graduates have traditionally received a “Bachelor of Hamburgerology” credential. The facility is therefore best understood as a corporate management school, not a culinary college devoted only to burgers.