(FORTUNE Magazine) – You probably thought a programming class in Java and a Stanford MBA would open the door to any executive suite in corporate America. Try again. You might want to ditch the Teva sandals for scarves and boots. Ivy is back in a big way.

Harvard Business School graduates are literally ruling the world. General Electric's CEO in training is Jeffrey Immelt (HBS '82); Welch wannabe and the new CEO of 3M is James McNerney ('75). Alan Lafley and Rick Wagoner (both '77) head P&G and GM, respectively. Jamie Dimon ('82) took over Bank One last year, about when Jeanne Jackson ('78) stepped up to run Walmart.com. Even George W. ('75) spent some time hanging at Harvard.

Seeing all this Crimson got FORTUNE thinking: Are we entering the era of the Harvard MBA? We asked executive recruiters from some of the leading search firms about up-and-coming Harvard B-school alums. Check out this list: There's Jeff Skilling ('79), heir apparent at Enron, E. Stanley O'Neal ('78), president of the private client group at Merrill Lynch, and Gregory Brenneman ('88), COO of Continental Airlines. Ken Chenault, who is poised to take over American Express, actually slummed it on the Cambridge side of the river; he graduated from Harvard Law School. But why sweat such minor details?

Some credit the rigors of HBS's case-study curriculum, which, they say, produces superior managers and delegators. "They overwhelm you with crap you have to read, and you have to decide what you're going to look at to solve a problem," says Brenneman of Continental. "Whether you're President of the U.S. or president of GE, that's an important skill." Many say the mere fact that a candidate can get into Harvard is enough to convince a company that he's talented. "People are looking for stamps of approval," says Peter Christ, vice chairman of Korn/Ferry in Chicago.

Even amid talk of a slowdown, officials at the school say that recruiting this year is going at fever pitch. More companies than ever--not just the usual investment banks and consulting firms--are coming to campus, and they're tailoring their pitches and packages to satisfy students' whims. That HBS people this year vied for the White House and grabbed control of the world's premier megacorporation--that's really just (very thick) gravy. FORTUNE asked Continental's Brenneman if he thought this was the Year of the Harvard MBA. "Oh," he drawled, "isn't every year the Year of the Harvard MBA?"