The PhD Program at the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business prepares doctoral students for research careers at leading universities. Our program is small enough to ensure that all students can receive the mentoring needed to innovate at the frontier of their disciplines, whether Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Operations and Information Management, or Strategic, Organizational, and Entrepreneurial Studies. Our program equips doctoral students with a deep understanding of the most influential research in their disciplines, as well as the tools necessary to contribute state-of-the-art research advancing these disciplines. In addition to the creation of knowledge, our program also supports the dissemination of that knowledge from classrooms to the profession at large.

Approximately 40 PhD students are enrolled in the program. The number is small so that students can benefit from a high faculty-to-student ratio. In this setting, faculty encourage graduate students to present at conferences, co-author papers, and develop successful dissertations that appear in academic journals.

“The PhD program at Leeds prepared me well for an academic career in finance. The faculty are very approachable and gave me a lot of individual attention during my five years at Leeds. Throughout the program, I was given opportunities to co-author with senior faculty, present my research at both domestic and international conferences, and develop my own research agenda.” Jordan Martel (’18 PhD), Visiting Assistant Professor, Indiana University.

Doctoral students in the PhD Program work with faculty as research assistants and they teach classes. This prepares scholars for academic careers (at professorial positions in colleges and universities) as seen by the 100 percent placement rate for graduates.

“My position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona is in large part due to the faculty and PhD Program’s at CU. The finance faculty's diversity of expertise and open-door policies honed my research interests, while the coursework developed me into a well-rounded researcher. Financial support, for data purchases and conference attendance, allowed me to focus on my research and develop a dissertation combining theoretical, empirical and numerical methods - a true product of the CU experience. Without the faculty's guidance and the PhD Program’s financial support, I wouldn't be where I am today,” says David Brown (’14 PhD), Assistant Professor of Finance, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona.