What name did McDonald's use for its training center opened in 1961?

McDonald's named its training center opened in 1961 Hamburger University.

The institution was established to train restaurant managers and franchisees in McDonald's operating procedures, food preparation, service standards, and management. It began at the company's headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, and later became part of a broader international training system.

Despite its playful name, Hamburger University was a professional training program rather than an accredited university offering conventional academic degrees. Its branding reflected McDonald's distinctive use of food-related language while emphasizing standardized knowledge across restaurants.

The center became important to the company's identity because consistency was a central promise of the McDonald's brand. Training helped restaurants in different cities follow similar procedures and present a familiar customer experience. McDonald's later developed international training facilities, but the 1961 institution established the best-known name associated with the company's internal education.