The UMSL DBA program was well-represented at the Engaged Management Scholarship Conference on the campus of Pepperdine University. (Photo courtesy of Ekin Pellegrini)

The University of Missouri–St. Louis’ acclaimed Doctor of Business Administration program made a major impact on the 15th annual Engaged Management Scholarship Conference, which was held earlier this month on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

“A total of 36% of the papers presented at the conference were authored by UMSL DBA students and alumni,” said Founding Director Ekin Pellegrini, who created UMSL’s program in 2017. “Will Woldenberg, part of the Class of 2026, was recognized as a finalist for the Best Doctoral Consortium submission. There were numerous poster presentations, panels and workshops by UMSL DBA alumni, faculty and staff.”

The UMSL contingent included more than 30 representatives – current students, program alumni, faculty and staff members. Pellegrini said that UMSL DBA students routinely present at the Academy of Management Conference and its regional affiliates, but having the university’s program prominently featured at this event, organized by the Executive DBA Council and Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School, was especially important.

“EMS is the premier global gathering specifically for DBA scholars and practitioners,” she said. “It is the only international conference for engaged doctoral research in business. Given that our industry leaders are drawn to conversations around rigorous inquiry and problem-focused research with real-world impact, a majority of them choose to disseminate their research at EMS.”

UMSL’s cohort-based program is Missouri’s first AACSB-accredited DBA program offering research concentrations in all areas of business administration. UMSL is also a member of the Executive DBA Council; Pellegrini is the immediate past president of that international organization of universities with executive-format doctoral degrees. UMSL’s program, which has annually been recognized as a premier global DBA program by CEO Magazine, offers a flexible format with two weekend trips to campus per semester for face-to-face interactions with faculty and fellow students.

In addition to keynote speakers and more informal sessions such as fireside chats, the three-day EMS event featured interactive workshops, including first-day sessions led by Yiuman Tse, an endowed chair and professor of finance at UMSL. Alum Jaime Peters was part of a three-person morning panel on the second day of the event.

“In this cutting-edge workshop, they highlighted a range of advanced AI tools and demonstrated how AI can be strategically leveraged to enhance the efficiency, rigor and impact of problem-focused scholarly research,” Pellegrini said.

Ekin Pellegrini (left) and William Woldenberg show the certificate recognizing Wolderberg as a finalist for the Best Doctoral Consortium submission.

The event also featured panel discussions, such as the one led by Francesca Ferrari, UMSL’s senior director of business student success for undergraduate and graduate business advising.

“She moderated one of the most well-attended panels, together with her counterpart at Georgia State University’s DBA program,” Pellegrini said. “The panel’s overall focus was on DBA student success. Panelists discussed issues ranging from curriculum and pedagogy to student support and societal impact of DBA research.”

Members of the UMSL contingent were not just there to present, of course, but to learn from some of the best minds across the globe.

“What stood out to me, aside from UMSL-led sessions, was the panel discussion offered by Kalle Lyytinen of Case Western University and Lars Mathiassen of Georgia State University,” Pellegrini said. “They are the founders of the Executive DBA Council and the DBA programs in their respective universities. They are the fathers of DBA education in the U.S., and they continue to mentor new and existing programs, including the UMSL DBA. Their insights about the evolving future of business education and how DBA is increasingly an integral part of the future of business education and research was informative and thought-provoking.”

Throughout her time creating and growing the UMSL DBA program, Pellegrini has always emphasized building a DBA community that included not only the faculty and staff members, but alumni and cohorts from different years. That was an added – and intentional – benefit of having so many UMSL representatives at the EMS conference.

“For sustainable competitive advantage, I believe strongly that our internal resources and capabilities are the primary drivers of UMSL DBA’s success, which includes a strong close-knit community of staff, faculty, students and alumni,” Pellegrini said. “The EMS conference gave us a platform to bring this community together across cohorts.”

Even though not everyone knew each other heading into the event, it was easy for the UMSL DBA students, alumni, faculty and staff to recognize each other.

“One of our program traditions is asking our attendees to wear their UMSL DBA shirts, which has sparked many long-lasting connections,” Pellegrini said. “I witnessed this firsthand in our hotel elevator. Two students from different cohorts recognized each other because they were wearing the same shirt, and within minutes, that chance encounter grew into a gathering where their two cohorts connected over dinner. Given that our students commute from across the country and the program is large, traditions we mindfully built into the program continue to add to the unique culture of community that defines the UMSL DBA program.”