Comprehensive Curriculum

Bob Gannon

Bob Gannon, founder and owner of regional telecom Pathcom Inc., didn't enter Pace's doctoral program to get in deeper. He joined to get out.

"After 60-hour weeks for 19 years, I want to teach and give back to the business community. I decided on Pace because I knew it would give me the theoretical framework to do that."

Gannon chose the DPS program because of the strength of its faculty and its AACSB International accreditation. But he has also developed a great appreciation for the perspectives of his classmates.

"Some of these people are involved in the Lucents and the Chase Manhattans of the world, so they have a very different viewpoint than a guy who has run his own small company for almost 20 years," he says. "That's been one of my favorite doctoral experiences—learning who these people are, what they do, and how they see the world."

So even though he began his doctoral education to escape from Pathcom, has his company benefited from his newfound academic background?

"There's a whole new world of theories and practices and best practices that I wasn't aware of, and I've been able to apply a lot of things back to my own business that weren't around when I got my MBA 15 years ago."

Gannon smiles. "You really can teach an old dog new tricks."
Achieving Superior Results

The DPS program distinguishes itself from traditional PhD programs by focusing on professional business needs:
  • Balancing breadth and depth. The DPS program includes four multi-disciplinary, integrative courses to explore how candidates contribute to the practice and professionalism of management.

  • Blending theory and application. The doctoral program emphasizes theory that has proven applicability to identifying and solving business problems.

  • Integrating research and judgment. This program develops candidates' capacity to attack exigent business problems in bold new ways by integrating systematic analysis and professional judgment.
The DPS program distinguishes itself from traditional PhD programs by focusing on professional business needs:
  • Balancing breadth and depth. The DPS program includes four multi-disciplinary, integrative courses to explore how candidates contribute to the practice and professionalism of management.

  • Blending theory and application. The doctoral program emphasizes theory that has proven applicability to identifying and solving business problems.

  • Integrating research and judgment. This program develops candidates' capacity to attack exigent business problems in bold new ways by integrating systematic analysis and professional judgment.
The DPS degree offers a customized curriculum to match your academic and business needs and goals. As a candidate, you will select one of the three intellectually challenging areas of concentration: finance, management, and marketing.

You will learn about progressive ideas in business and how to apply them in real-time situations. Your program of study will encompass doctoral seminars that build greater depth and breadth in understanding many aspects of business across disciplines, functions, industries and international borders.

Program Mission

The mission of the Doctoral Program in Business for Executives is to enable successful business managers and professionals to either advance their business careers, launch consulting practices, or pursue academic careers by infusing them with theoretical knowledge to conceptually understand business issues and by developing their research skills to analyze business problems and create new knowledge.

Educational Objectives

The educational objectives of the Doctoral Program in Business are to enable students to:
  • Apply theoretical and analytical competency in a functional area or discipline base of business.

  • Exhibit analytical and research skills necessary to create knowledge and apply them to emerging business issues.

  • Demonstrate expertise in a specific topic area through the design, execution, and completion of a doctoral dissertation that contributes to the knowledge and practice of the field.


This curriculum is comprehensive.

This doctorate has intellectual capital.