The Ph D Project - Organization and History

Organization and History

In 1993, a group of academics and corporate representatives sharing a concern for the lack of diversity in corporate hiring pools sought a solution. Over the next several months they initiated a systemic and fundamental program to correct a major problem: U.S. business school faculties consisted of less than two percent minorities.

With no faculty of color in the front of the classroom, colleges and universities could not attract minorities to study business disciplines. There were no role models and an absence of natural and approachable mentors. Something needed to be done. In response to this overwhelming need, The PhD Project was created. The founding members were The KPMG Foundation, The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Citigroup and the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). The KPMG Foundation administers The Project and is the principal source of annual funding.

The program has been the principal reason for the increase in the number of African-American, Hispanic-American and Native American business school professors: in 1994 there were 294 minority business school professors, today there are 889. Furthermore, there are 412 members of these underrepresented groups now in doctoral programs that will lead to positions as professors.