[5][6][7] The school contains the departments of accounting, economics, finance, and management and marketing, as well as twelve research centres.

[9] However, Durham University had established the Business Research Unit (BRU) in Durham in 1960 under the auspices of the Department of Economics and in collaboration with the Department of Psychology to carry out business and management-related research, under the direction of Alan Odber.

Charles Baker, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Durham since 1961 and a member of the BRU, used this to argue for the establishment of a business school.

[9][12] A precursor to these courses was the Advanced Management Program run in 1964 at Bede College, Durham by lecturers from Harvard Business School,[13] before the first courses offered by the BRU, under the name of Durham University Business School, were launched at Easter 1965, also at Bede College.

[18][26] He resigned as dean in September 2007 and was suspended as a professor of finance in October 2007 after allegations of plagiarism were upheld by a university panel.

In 2006 it formed a partnership to deliver the DBA at Fudan University in China, with the first students starting in 2007.

[28] As of 2023,[update] Fudan remains the main location, but some elements of the course are also delivered at Durham and in San Francisco, USA.

The Waterside Building, north of the city centre, is home to the department of management and marketing, including the MBA, DBA and executive education courses.

[42] Durham University Business School provides courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Undergraduate courses include Bachelor's degrees in the fields of economics, finance, business, marketing and accounting.

Postgraduate degrees are offered in management, marketing, finance and economics, including MBA, MA, MSc, DBA and PhD.

The school has pioneered the use of a virtual campus on the technology platform Gather Town to improve networking for students on the online MBA course.