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DeGroote celebrates 45 years of the PhD program

October 29, 2024 ·

Contributed by: Joanna Williams, Marketing and Communications Strategist

A large group of DeGroote PhD alumni and faculty members gathered for a photo in an office building setting.

Last month the DeGroote PhD community came together to commemorate 45 years of DeGroote’s PhD program.

A collage of DeGroote PhD alumni and faculty engaging and networking amongst one another,

Current PhD candidates joined faculty and staff, along with alumni guests to recognize more than four decades of academic achievement, groundbreaking research and the remarkable contributions of alumni, faculty, students and staff.

A collage of DeGroote faculty members networking and delivering speeches at a professional event.

Guests travelled from east to west to participate in the program’s anniversary – including the United Kingdom, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio and Seattle, as well as Ottawa and Sudbury.

A collage of DeGroote faculty members, PhD alumni, and the Dean giving speeches at a recent event.

Special guest speakers included Norm Archer, professor emeritus, who introduced his former PhD student, Milena Head (pictured together on the far left). She serves many roles at DeGroote including professor of Information Systems, the Wayne C. Fox Chair in Business Innovation, and Director of the McMaster Digital Transformation Research Centre.

Steve Hranilovic, Vice-Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies at McMaster University, Khaled Hassanein, Dean of the DeGroote School of Business and Trish Ruebottom, PhD Program Director at the DeGroote School of Business reminisced about the longevity of the PhD program and the profound legacy it has created.

The president of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton also made a few remarks to guests and demonstrated the impact DeGroote alumni have beyond academia. Mike Heenan earned his PhD in Business Administration Health Policy Management in 2023. In addition, he has an MBA in Health Services Management and a Bachelor of Arts, from DeGroote and McMaster.
A collage of DeGroote PhD alumni and faculty at a dinner event, attentively listening to faculty speeches.

As the program collected photos and memories from the past 45 years, they uncovered the very first DeGroote PhD thesis. A Doctor of Philosophy in Management Science/Systems was defended by Kuldeep Kumar in February 1984 and titled “Participant values and their role in the problem solving decision making and system development process”. His supervisor was RJ Welke and here is a link to the entire 165-page dissertation.

View additional photos from the PhD 45^th anniversary celebration