The Foundation
The McGraw-Hill Companies has been a leader in providing high quality information and analysis across global markets for more than a century. From the Industrial Revolution through the Digital Revolution, our core values have remained constant -- The McGraw-Hill Companies is helping to create a smarter, better world by meeting critical needs for the knowledge, insights and analysis that help individuals, markets and countries grow and prosper.
Company Founder: James H. McGraw
Founder James H. McGraw, a teacher in upstate New York, began working in publishing in 1884, and purchased the American Journal of Railway Appliances in 1888. At the same time, co-founder John A. Hill was working as an editor at Locomotive Engineer.
Over the next fifteen years, the two men pursued their separate careers specializing in technical and trade publications. In 1899, McGraw incorporated his publications under the heading of "The McGraw Publishing Company;" in 1902, John Hill followed with "The Hill Publishing Company."
Mutual interest led them to bring together their publishing enterprises to form McGraw-Hill in 1909.
Company Founder: John A. Hill
Over the next 10-plus decades, the Company has continued to expand into new markets around the world while establishing a legacy of innovation that has time and time again changed the way the world does business and educates its people.
Today, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a global information and education company providing knowledge, insights and analysis in the financial, education and business information sectors through leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts, and J.D. Power and Associates.
With more than 280 offices in 40 countries, the Company is poised to support a new era of global growth by using the latest technologies to help drive 21st century workforce development and to deliver valuable benchmarks and information that help financial and business professionals around the world make better decisions.
1880s-1950s
| 1888: | James H. McGraw, originally a school teacher from upstate New York, purchases The American Journal of Railway Appliances, to meet growing demand for insight into the rail industry. John A. Hill serves as editor at Locomotive Engineer. |
| 1909: | James McGraw and John Hill join their book publishing departments to form the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. |
| 1916: | John A. Hill dies on January 24 at the age of 57. James H. McGraw becomes president of the McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. |
| 1917: | The McGraw and Hill Companies merge to form the McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. on February 28. The first issue of Engineering News-Record is published on April 5. |
| 1929: | McGraw-Hill stock begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on February 14th. The first issue of The Business Week is published on September 7, just weeks before the stock market crash on “Black Tuesday” sets off the Great Depression. McGraw-Hill buys Aviation magazine from the Aviation Publishing Company. The company later merges the publication with two companion magazines to form AVIATION WEEK. Today, AVIATION WEEK is the largest multimedia provider of news and information for the $2 trillion global aviation, aerospace and defense industry, serving customers in 185 countries. |
| 1930: | The Book Company enters the trade-book field with Whittlesey House in February. The first title published is The World's Economic Dilemma, by Ernest Minor Patterson. |
| 1948: | James H. McGraw dies in San Francisco, on February 21, at the age of 87. Economics, the textbook version of Nobel laureate Dr. Paul Samuelson’s book Foundations of Economic Analysis is published. The book will go on to be one of the Company’s best-selling textbooks, and remains in heavy use today. |
1950s-1970s
| 1952: | The secondary school list of Harper & Brothers is purchased and merged with the School Department of the Book Company, marking an expansion from higher education to secondary education publishing to meet the needs of the post-World War II "baby boom." |
| 1953: | McGraw-Hill acquires The National Petroleum Publishing Company, the W. C. Platt Company, and Platt's Price Service, Inc. Today, Platts is the leading global authority of energy and metals information, publishing more than 8,500 price assessments daily for customers in more than 150 countries. |
| 1958: | The Book Company opens a distribution center in Hightstown, New Jersey in December. |
| 1960: | To meet the increasing demand for knowledge created by the space race, McGraw-Hill merges AVIATION WEEK with sister publication Space Technology to form Aviation Week & Space Technology, which adds coverage of rocket design, moon landing efforts, and the politics of aerospace to its aviation reporting. |
| 1961: | F. W. Dodge Corporation is acquired, marking McGraw-Hill’s entrance into the construction industry. Today, McGraw-Hill Construction is the premier source of information, industry news, market research and services for the $5.6 trillion global construction market. |
| 1964: | McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Inc. is renamed McGraw-Hill, Inc. |
| 1965: | California Test Bureau (CTB) joins McGraw-Hill, strengthening the Company’s leadership in the elementary and high school education and assessment market. |
| 1966: | Standard & Poor's is acquired by McGraw-Hill, expanding the Company into the field of financial information and analysis. Standard & Poor’s is now the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. Among its many products are the S&P 500, the premier U.S. portfolio index; the S&P 1200, the premier global equity performance benchmark; and credit ratings on more than 220,000 securities and funds worldwide. |
| 1970: | McGraw-Hill enters a joint venture with Tata Group in India, establishing Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd. Tata McGraw-Hill Education is a market leader in providing learning solutions to India’s burgeoning economy. |
| 1972: | Four television stations are acquired: KERO in Central California; KGTV in San Diego; KMGH in Denver; and WRTV in Indianapolis. |
| 1975: | Harold W. McGraw, Jr., is appointed president and CEO. |
| 1979: | McGraw-Hill successfully rejects a hostile takeover attempt by American Express. The Company enters the 1980s with a new energy and approach, focusing on market expansion. |
1980s - Present
| 1986: | Fourteen businesses are acquired in financial services, education, and health and transportation business information. Critical among these acquisitions was Tower Group International, a leader in the business of international logistics and trade information technology, and later sold to FedEx. |
| 1988: | The Book Company acquires the school and college division of Random House, Inc. |
| 1989: | McGraw-Hill College Division, working with Eastman Kodak and R. R. Donnelley, introduces the first computerized publishing system (PRIMIS) allowing teachers to customize a textbook to match their curriculum. McGraw-Hill and Macmillan, Inc. create a joint venture company, Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Company, combining their K-12 units. McGraw-Hill would go on to acquire Macmillan's shares in 1993. |
| 1995: | The Corporation unveils a new corporate identification program, and is renamed The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. |
| 1998: | Harold McGraw III, president and chief operating officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., is appointed chief executive officer. |
| 1999: | McGraw-Hill sells Chemical Engineering, Modern Plastics and Modern Plastics International as it continues the transformation of its business information business away from an advertising-based model to more subscription-based offerings that are embedded in its customers' workflows. McGraw-Hill's board of directors appoints Harold McGraw III, chief executive officer and chairman of the board. |
| 2000: | The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. acquires Tribune Education. |
| 2001: | Mayfield Publishing, a leading publisher of college level instructional materials in the social, behavioral sciences and the humanities, is purchased by McGraw-Hill. |
| 2004: | McGraw-Hill Education acquires Grow Network, a leader in assessment reporting for states and large districts. Standard & Poor's acquires Capital IQ, a leading provider of information solutions to the global investment and financial services communities. Capital IQ continues to expand its global services for financial professionals, adding new data and functionality to its Web-based platform. |
| 2005: | McGraw-Hill acquires J.D. Power and Associates, a global leader in customer satisfaction ratings and marketing information services for many industries. With customers in 60 countries, J.D. Power continues to expand its consumer research globally and beyond the automotive market with new offerings in such industries as financial services, insurance, health care, hospitality and telecommunications. S&P acquires majority share in CRISIL, India's leading ratings, research and risk and policy advisory company. McGraw-Hill acquires KMGH's new Spanish-language affiliate, Azteca America Colorado, and begins airing all-Spanish programming on several television channels owned by the Corporation. Today the stations also serve their local communities with robust Web sites. |
| 2007: | Standard & Poor's acquires ClariFI; a provider of software and services focused on quantitative portfolio management and research. ClariFI is integrated into S&P Capital IQ business. The Points of Light Foundation recognizes McGraw-Hill for its commitment to employee volunteerism. |
| 2008: | J.D. Power acquires Umbria Inc., a marketing intelligence company that specializes in analyzing social media. The company opens a new state-of-the-art data center in Hightstown, New Jersey, significantly improving its ability to deliver digital content to customers around the world, 24 hours a day. |
| 2009: | McGraw-Hill Education creates a Center for Digital Innovation (CDI) in Bothell, Wash., bridging the digital divide between students' digital activity inside and outside the classroom. CDI's first product, Planet Turtle, was launched in the fall of 2009 and teaches K-3 math through engaging computer graphic animation and social interaction. The McGraw-Hill Companies sells BusinessWeek to Bloomberg LLP. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. is named among the Top 10 Best Companies by Working Mother magazine for the third year in a row. McGraw-Hill Education launches McGraw-Hill Connect®, the most advanced all-digital teaching and learning exchange for higher education. Just six months after its launch, Connect is used by more than 1.2 million teachers and students across the U.S. McGraw-Hill deepens commitment to China's $4 billion professional development education market through new relationship with Ambow Education. McGraw-Hill announces the sale of Vista Research Inc., to Guidepoint Global, LLC, a leading provider of primary research services to investors around the world |
| 2010: | McGraw-Hill Education acquires Tegrity, provider of award-winning, automated service that captures class lectures for college students. Capital IQ acquires the Research and Estimates Business of TheMarkets.com. McGraw-Hill Education launches online assessment platform with unique speech recognition technology to accelerate English language learning in China. McGraw-Hill announces organizational and management changes to drive growth and innovation Financial Services segment realigned into two segments: One focused on ratings and one on financial information, data and analytics Jack F. Callahan, Jr. named CFO Robert J. Bahash appointed President, McGraw-Hill Education |
| 2011: | Platts completes acquisition of Steel Business Briefing Group, broadening its news, pricing and analytical offerings in global commodities markets. McGraw-Hill to divest broadcasting business as part of portfolio review. McGraw-Hill and Wipro to Develop mConnect -- an affordable mobile learning platform -- to reduce skills gap in emerging markets. Platts completes acquisition of BENTEK Energy, broadening its analytical services in natural gas and related power markets. McGraw-Hill announces comprehensive Growth and Value Plan to increase shareholder value; |
