Doctoral (Ph.D.) Program in Leadership Studies (DPLS)
The Doctoral Program in Leadership Studies is based on the Jesuit tradition of educating the whole person. The interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree program is designed for working professionals across a range of professions, including education, health care, social services, church, government, law enforcement, and business. For more than twenty years the program has been a place where critical thought and moral conviction meet the questions of humanity. In the Jesuit tradition, the doctoral program attempts to provide a learning community in which students can develop the personal qualities of self-knowledge, self-acceptance, a restless curiosity, a desire for truth, a mature concern for others, respect for human individuality, and a thirst for justice. The program promotes academic excellence and facilitates the strengthening of conceptual, scholarly, and professional competencies for use in leadership roles that serve others.
With well over three-hundred graduates, the doctoral program has achieved national recognition and international reach. Among other professional roles, graduates are CEOs of major corporations, professors throughout the world, international leadership consultants, members of research think-tanks, directors of universities, presidents of organizations, entrepreneurs, and leaders of profound influence in varied professions. Most students are working professionals while pursuing the degree. They enter the program often already established in leadership positions.The program is instrumental in deepening the development of the students' leadership potentials. Notably, past student dissertations have been honored with national dissertation awards, reflecting the strong foundation of scholarship the program provides.
