Freeman Magazine - Summer 2005

IN THE NEWS

Freeman to start new business PhD training program

The Freeman School has been selected as one of five schools to participate in a new program to help avert a critical shortage of doctoral faculty at America’s business schools.

The program—the Post-Doctoral Bridge-To-Business—will train PhDs from academic disciplines outside of business to teach accounting and finance, marketing, management, supply chain management, international business, and entrepreneurship.

“I am delighted that AACSB International accepted our proposal to participate in the Bridge-To-Business postdoctoral program,” said Angelo DeNisi, dean of the Freeman School. “I believe this is an important step by AACSB and the participating schools to address the business faculty shortages that are prevalent globally.”

The program evolved from the findings of a 2003 AACSB report on sustaining scholarship in business schools. The report takes into account current PhD enrollments, projected demand for business education, faculty retirements and the typical hiring of PhDs by accredited and non-accredited schools, and concludes that in the U.S. alone there will be a shortage of approximately 2,500 PhDs by 2012. 

The Freeman School’s bridge-to-business program, scheduled to start in June 2008, will allow scholars with a PhD in a related discipline, such as mathematics, economics or statistics, to choose a concentration in finance or management. The program takes a year to complete compared to traditional PhD programs which take an average of eight years. Graduates will be considered academically qualified to teach at AACSB-accredited business schools for a period of five years before having to meet normal research or performance standards set by each school for continuing employment.

In addition to the uptown campus, Tulane’s program is also available to faculty in Latin America through partner institutions ITAM in Mexico City and Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. More information on the program can be found online at http://aacsbpostdoc.tulane.edu/