Dr. T. Grandon Gill is a professor of Information Systems & Decision Sciences and the Academic Director of the new Doctor of Business Administration program at the Muma College of Business of the University of South Florida. His MBA and DBA degrees are from Harvard Business School. He is a leading researcher in the transdisciplinary field of informing science, and is Editor-in-Chief of Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline. He is internationally known for his research in the development and use of case studies and is currently working on a grant with the National Science Foundation to develop discussion case studies relating to cybersecurity. His principal research areas are the impacts of complexity on decision-making and IS education, and he has published many articles describing how technologies and innovative pedagogies can be combined to increase the effectiveness of teaching across a broad range of IS topics. His most recent book, Informing Business: Research and Education on a Rugged Landscape, deals with how we might better align business academia with the complexity of business practice. Professor T. Grandon Gill has also extensive experience in case method research, as well as in writing cases for classroom use and facilitating case discussions. His MBA and DBA are both from Harvard Business School, where the case method originated. He is author of the book Informing with the Case Method (2011, Informing Science Press) and recently became the founding editor of Journal of Information Technology Education: Discussion Cases, a publication outlet for case studies in the MIS, IT and informing science fields.

In many European countries, particularly Germany, a doctoral degree has become a standard credential for CEOs of major companies. In the U.S., such a degree is far more the exception than the rule. Recently, however, a small number of U.S. research universities have introduced terminal business degrees that specifically target working executives. These degrees focus on applying research methods to interdisciplinary business problems. The presentation looks at the design of some of these programs—many of which are intentionally constructed to break down academic—and then considers the newly launched program at the University of South Florida.