Join us…Oct 23-25, 2025
DM/DBA/PhD 30th Anniversary Celebration
Weatherhead School of Management
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH 44106
Recharge, Reunite, Renew!!
All Alumni (and guests) are Invited to Join us for a Momentous Celebration – The 30th Anniversary of our Program!
Mark your calendar for October 23-25, 2025, as graduates from the Weatherhead School of Management’s Doctor of Management program, Doctor of Business Administration program and the PhD in Management: Designing Sustainable Systems program reunite to celebrate three decades of excellence, innovation, and impact!
This is more than just a reunion — it’s a chance to reignite your intellectual curiosity, reconnect with old friends/faculty and engage in thought-provoking conversations that reflect the depth and rigor of our world-renowned practitioner-scholar doctoral program.
What to Expect:
A unique "back to the classroom" experience with cutting-edge insights on today’s most pressing business and leadership issues. Opportunities to network, reminisce, and celebrate with fellow alumni, faculty and staff. Conversations and programs that reflect on the program’s past, celebrate its present, and envision its future.
Agenda:
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025:
9:30 a.m. – Alumni Arrive and Register
10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – ThinkBox
- Tour CWRU Sears think[box], the largest open-access innovation center and makerspace in the United States
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Lunch: Good Food, Great Conversations
1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Town Hall - Welcome & Program Updates
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We will begin with words of welcome by Kalle Lyytinen, our program director. This is followed by a Town Hall that is been designed to spark conversation and reconnection. We want to hear from you the Participants about the topics you wish to have covered in the various sessions. Real time feedback on the agenda. This way, our panel moderators will know ahead of time which themes, subtopics, and perspectives matter to you. So: Which sessions will you attend? What topics do you hope they will explore? We will try to integrate your interests and questions into the discussion itself, creating a rich exchange that truly matters.
2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. – Break
2:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Artificial Intelligence: Shaping the Future of Work and Leadership: Transforming Research and Practice
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How is AI reshaping strategy, leadership, and the way we work? This panel brings together practitioner-scholars to examine both the opportunities and challenges AI creates for organizations today and tomorrow. Expect a lively, future-looking conversation on how leaders can navigate disruption, harness radical innovation, and prepare for the profound changes that lay ahead.
3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. – Break
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions (Choose one to attend):
- From Lessons Learned to Collective Wisdom: A World Cafe -Using the World Café method, we will engage participants in rotating small-group conversations centered on three guiding questions: (a) the impact of the Case DBA/PhD program on teaching and research in academic, corporate and community settings, (b) tips and lessons learned from participants’ experiences, and (c) ways that Case’s DBA/PhD pedagogy has supported evidence-based teaching, research and community engagement. As ideas cross-pollinate between groups, facilitators and participants will document the themes and strategies that emerge, highlighting both individual perspectives and the collective wisdom we hope will inform our ongoing practice.
- Consulting: Navigating Complexity - In today’s fast-changing business world, clients don’t just need answers—they need solutions that work across boundaries and stand up in the real world. This session takes on the big question: does the program make us sharper problem solvers and solution providers with real-world impact? Our panel will share how evidence-based consulting, creative solution-seeking, and bold, cross-boundary conversations can drive business objectives forward. And this won’t be a sit-back-and-listen session. Audience voices will be part of the dialogue. Come ready to share your perspectives, exchange ideas, and walk away with fresh strategies.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Cheers to 30 Years! Reception
Welcome and Remarks: from Kalle Lyytinen, President Eric Kaler and Jeanette Miller
Friday, Oct. 24, 2025:
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast: Rise and Shine
9:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. – Program Directors: Guiding the Journey
- Program Highlights, Reflections, and Insights with Program Directors Dr. John Aram, Dr. Bo Carlsson, and Dr. Kalle Lyytinen. This panel brings together three program directors who have steered the program through different eras of its 30-year history. From bold launches to pivotal transitions, they have navigated challenges, championed innovations, and celebrated milestones that shaped the program’s evolution. Each director will share his reflections of the program change by highlighting the issues they faced, the solutions they forged, and the successes that defined their leadership. Together, their insights trace the program’s remarkable journey of growth, resilience, and impact. Three directors will focus their initial statements on the issues, challenges, and successes that characterized their tenure while the program evolved and grew. How and why they inaugurated bold ideas, navigated turning points, and celebrated milestone successes. Their stories aren’t just program history. They offer lessons in leadership, resilience, and vision.
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. – Break
11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Transformative, Lived Experience in the Classroom and Beyond: Making a Difference Personally & for Social Impact
- This panel brings alumni and faculty together to share the ways their journeys have reshaped who they are—personally, professionally, and as changemakers. Discover how the lived experience of advanced scholarship fuels purpose, inspires leadership, and drives social impact to make our communities, organizations, and world better.
12:30 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Lunch: More Good Food, Great Conversations
2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – International Geopolitical Dynamics 2025 and Beyond
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The DBA program emphasizes global reach and relevance — engaging with political and economic systems that transcend borders. Now we’re inviting you to reflect on how that foundation has shaped your work and thought leadership around the world. This panel explores: global systems and shifts that influence practice and policy, the impact of a global lens on leadership, scholarship, and career direction and how DBA alumni are engaging in global action and research today. What might the next 30 years in the global arena look like?
3:15 p.m. -- 3:30 p.m. – Break
3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions - (Choose one to attend):
- A Day in the Life of a Practitioner Scholar - This session features professionals from academia, government, and industry who will explore how the DBA experience has shaped their work and leadership. Panel highlights include: Translating theory into impactful practice; Using research to drive business results; Sharing practitioner scholar work through publications and presentations; Building a path toward becoming a thought leader. How has the program shaped your career and professional identity? How do you engage with both management practice and scholarly inquiry?
- Engaging Curiosity and Publishing Research to Spread the Insight -A doctoral program is about creating new insights through research. A scholarly practitioner or practical scholar doctoral program then follows with inspiring others to use these insights. That requires publication in academic and practitioner distribution channels. Our program has been distinctive among the "executive doctorates" in that many, if not most, of our EDMs, DMs, DBAs and PhDs have published in either academic or practitioner vehicles or both, while in the program and following graduation. Many have created streams of research on a theme.
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Reception Lower Level PBL: Where Conversations Flow and Memories Grow
- Remarks by Kalle Lyytinen, Dean Andrew Medvedev, Rich Bonaccorsi
Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025:
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast: Coffee and Connections
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon – (Choose one to attend):
- Round Table Conversations - Small group conversations organized around themes you care about most. Choose a topic that sparks your interest and pull up a seat! There’s a table (and a conversation) waiting for you.
- Sit In on a Class - Or you can choose to step back into the classroom and experience the energy of today's doctoral seminars. Alumni are invited to sit in on a live class session to listen, reflect, and maybe even contribute - just like old times.
Registration:
Early Bird Registration (ends August 31)
Full package (Thursday-Saturday) - $300
Thursday only - $125
Friday only - $125
Saturday only - $50
Guests are welcome to attend the Thursday and/or Friday receptions. Please register your guest separately for which reception(s) they plan to attend. Your registration includes the reception(s).
Thursday reception for guest - $65
Friday reception for guest - $65
Thursday & Friday receptions for guest - $130
Regular Registration (beginning September 1)
Full package (Thursday-Saturday) - $350
Thursday only - $150
Friday only - $150
Saturday only - $50
Thursday reception for guest - $65
Friday reception for guest - $65
Thursday & Friday receptions for guest - $130
Accommodations:
Area hotel information can be found here.
What to Wear:
Whatever you feel most comfortable wearing. Temperatures tend to vary this time of year in Cleveland, with mornings and evenings cooler than the afternoons. Snappy casual is recommended along with layers.
Updates are regularly made to the website and the registration page, so check back often. The schedule of the 30th Celebration will be updated with any changes or additions.
Registration Questions? Feel free to contact Nikki Anderson at nikki.anderson@case.edu
RSVP Deadline: October 1st, 2025
Register here for the 30th Celebration