[1] Brandcenter students earn a Master of Science in business, with a focus in the following concentrations: The program is highly collaborative project-based, designed to simulate a real-world agency/client setting.

[2][3] The Brandcenter opened as the VCU Adcenter in 1996 under the leadership of founder Diane Cook-Tench, a former senior vice president and creative director at The Martin Agency.

In 2003, Rick Boyko, former co-president and chief creative officer of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, was named director of the Brandcenter[5] and led the school for eight years.

"[10] Later that year, the Brandcenter introduced its Creative Technology concentration "to emphasize the increasingly central role that digital media plays in advertising.

"[12] In 2010, the Brandcenter building was named Mike Hughes Hall after the president and co-chief creative officer of The Martin Agency.

Brands represented by alumni work (some as recent as the Class of 2019) included Planters, Olay, Doritos, Bud Light, Facebook and Porsche.

[21] In June, a team of 50+ Brandcenter students and recent graduates started a student-run creative co-op, The Carriage House.

The founding council members represent a wide range of professional diversity and highly specialized expertise, helping reimagine how the Brandcenter prepares its students to lead in the workforce of tomorrow.