Concordia celebrates 50th anniversary of innovative joint PhD in Business Administration

The result of an innovative collaboration between Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business, McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, HEC Montréal, and the School of Management Sciences (ESG UQAM), the joint doctoral program in business administration is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

“For 50 years, this joint venture has provided students and faculty with an incredible opportunity for collaboration across different perspectives, backgrounds and the linguistic divide,” says Tracy Hecht, program director of the PhD in Business Administration at the John Molson School of Business.

"It is a vibrant ecosystem for business research that stands apart from the typical single university program in the sheer number of faculty involved, the expertise and resources from which students can draw, and the spirit of cooperation that is at its core.”

The joint PhD program is one of the world’s leading centers for doctoral training in management and remains a model of interuniversity collaboration by sharing faculty expertise, pooling resources and providing customized academic pathways.

"Now that I’m nearing the end of my doctoral program, I realize just how much it has helped me grow as a researcher and educator," says Joé G. Leduc, a PhD candidate in the Department of Management and Concordia Public Scholar. 

"I’ve had the opportunity to teach more than 150 undergraduate students and more than 30 graduate students. I have also supervised one student’s research project and mentored more than 25 first-year doctoral students. Thanks to these experiences, I feel well-prepared to enter the academic job market. I am confident as I move forward in my career as a professor and researcher, both in launching my research program and in teaching."

Since 1976, the program has helped redefine doctoral training in management. More than 1,300 researchers have been trained through the program, contributing to the advancement of knowledge, teaching and management practices both locally and around the world. Fifty years later, the program continues to train a new generation of high-caliber scholars and contribute to Montreal’s international reputation as a hub of knowledge, research and innovation.

This anniversary highlights the relevance and sustainability of an innovative model that trains experts capable of advancing knowledge in numerous fields of management—such as international business, operations and logistics, data science and information technology, finance, and marketing—while addressing the major challenges facing organizations and society.

Learn more about the joint PhD in Business Administration.