Program Fast Facts

Year Program Founded: 1987

Program Entry: Fall

Length of Program: 59% of students graduate in 5 years or less, 36% in 4 years or less

Study Options: Teaching and Research Assistantships (tuition waiver; stipend with masters degree $20,096; subsidized health insurance)

Support for doctoral student conference presentations

Number of Alumni: 131

Total full-time faculty with research doctoral degrees: 82

Current Program

Size: 53 Students

Age: 33.8 years

Work Experience (Ave years): 6 years

% Men: 60%

% Non-US: 60%


Graduate Placements - Domestic
Carnegie Classification RU/VH, RU/H
(Research University / Very High or High research activity):
SUNY Albany, University of Georgia, University of Wisconsin- Madison, University of Illinois-Chicago, Iowa State, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Arizona State University, University of Kansas, University of Maine, University of Washington-Seattle, University of S Carolina, Northeastern University, Univ of Rhode Island, University of Nevada-Reno, University of Toledo, Unversity of North Texas, Clark , Clemson, George Mason, Indiana U. - Indianapolis, Mississippi State, Kent State, Mississippi State University, Texas Tech University, University of Texas-Dallas, Drexel University

Graduate Placements - International
Brock Univ - Ontario, Bangkok University, National Central University-Taiwan, Memorial University Newfoundland, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Richmond Universtiy-London, Kyung Hee University-Korea, National Chung-Cheng University-Taiwan, IESA-Venezuela, National Taiwan University

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Recent Doctoral Dissertations

Rohit Aggerwal, OPIM, successfully defended his dissertation titled, "Two Essays on Measuring and Managing the Influence of Blogs", on July 17, 2008. Dr. Aggarwal is an Associate Professor of Finance at the David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah.

Lisa Anne Cottrell Frank, Finance, successfully defended her dissertation titled, "Essays on Real Estate Investment Trusts, Corporate Governance, Institutional Investment, and Corporate Exit Strategies", on May 20, 2008. Dr. Frank is an Associate Professor of Finance at Central Connecticut State University.

Luke A. Weinstein, Marketing, successfully defended his dissertation titled, "Technology, Adoption, and Performance in the Sales Force", on May 7, 2008. Dr. Weinstein is currently Director at UConn's School of Business, Innovation Accelerator.

Morris K. George, Marketing, successfully defended his dissertation titled, "Essays on Cross-buying in a Non-Contractual Setting: Why, What, When and How Much?" on May 5, 2008. Dr. George will join the faculty at Baylor University.

Andrew Petersen, Marketing, successfully defended his dissertation titled, "Essays on Product Returns: The Impact of Customer Product Return Behavior on Profitability" on April 29, 2008. Dr. Petersen will join the faculty at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Denish Shah, Marketing, successfully defended his dissertation titled, "An Integrated Framework for Managing Marketing Productivity when Selling Through Intermediary Firms" on April 29, 2008. Dr. Shah will join the faculty at Georgia State.

Ling Lei, Accounting, successfully defended her dissertation titled, "Auditor-provided Tax Services and 'Last-chance' Earnings Management: The Importance of Audit Committees" on April 23, 2008. Dr. Lei will join the faculty at George Mason University.

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Doctoral Student Teaching Awards

2008 Ph.D. Program Student Teaching Award:
Bryan Schmutz (photo far right)

2008 Departmental Ph.D. Student Teaching Awards (Photo left to right)
Management, Zheng (Chris) Chen
Marketing, Ioannis Kareklas
Accounting, Linda Kolbasovsky
OPIM, Li Chen
Finance, Bryan Schmutz

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Mission

The mission of the Ph.D. Program in Business at the University of Connecticut is to prepare students to conduct high quality, state-of-the-art research and to assume faculty positions at leading universities. This is a full-time program and is designed for superior students who are highly committed to scholarly research and teaching.

Renowned Faculty

Our doctoral students work closely with faculty mentors who are recognized nationally and internationally for their research expertise. Our faculty include prolific researchers, authors, editors, and reviewers from a wide range of intellectual fields. These established scholars, along with the emerging scholars being added to the School's growing faculty, provide valuable resources for students.

Close Faculty-Student Interaction

Our faculty members spend significant time advising doctoral students; a guiding principle of our Ph.D. program is that students have ample opportunity to interact on a one-on-one basis with faculty. In order to promote interaction between faculty and students, the size of the program is kept relatively small, at about 40 to 50 students in residence.

Flexible Program

We believe in providing a curriculum that is responsive to the widely varying talents and interests of our students. Our doctoral program therefore promotes flexibility in developing skills that are tailored to and guided by individual students’ needs and preferences. Our students benefit from regular participation in research workshops and seminars wherein our Ph.D. students, faculty, and scholars from around the country present and discuss research papers. As a part of their professional development, most of our students also gain valuable teaching experience in the program.

Emphasis on Research

Ph.D. students, under the guidance of faculty, begin working on research projects early in their careers at UConn. Exposure to the process of designing and conducting research, and submission of papers based on research projects to professional conferences and articles to scholarly journals, enhances the student's research skills and builds the student's academic vita, which in turn contributes to the student's placement upon graduation.

Commitment to Diversity

Diversity is a value, and for the University of Connecticut, valuing and achieving diversity among our population of students, faculty and staff is a goal. While attending the Ph.D. Program, our multicultural scholars are invited to apply for the Multicultural Scholars Program, a program which awards support to incoming doctoral students to promote diversity in graduate education. In addition, to sustain a high level of commitment and a sense of connection among minority business doctoral students, our students are encouraged to participate in peer associations. While in their doctoral program our students have been active members of the Ph.D. Project Minority Doctoral Students Associations.

School of Business Ph.D. Program Enrichment Fund

"If you are looking for a place to invest, invest in a UConn Business School Ph.D. student. It's a good investment, and an investment in our profession!"
Gary N. Powell, Ph.D. Program Director, 20th anniversary celebration (2007)

Dollars donated to this fund will be used to expand support of business doctoral students; it will provide such things as student travel to conferences in which they are presenting their own work.
Make A Gift to "School of Business PhD Program Enrichment Fund”
(Specify gifts "Purpose: Business School" & "Other: Fund 22472, PhD Enrichment")

Comprehensive Research University

The University was founded in 1881. It is one of only two Carnegie Foundation Research I public universities in New England, and the only Ph.D. granting public university in Connecticut. UConn has approximately 22,000 students and 150,000 alumni, a faculty of more than 1,500 teacher-scholars, 120 major buildings and 3,100 acres in and around Storrs, three professional schools and five regional campuses throughout the state. The Graduate School offers degree programs in 79 fields, each with faculty nationally recognized for distinguished research. Business doctoral students are encouraged to take supporting courses in various disciplines including economics, computer science, engineering, psychology, and statistics to add breadth and depth to their training.

If you would like more information about UConn's School of Business Ph.D. Program, please contact our office: