The McDonough School of Business participated in a national initiative that aims to increase the number of minorities who become business school professors.

Next semester Dr. Patricia Hewlin will join the business school faculty as part of the Ph.D. Project, a national program that encourages minorities from the corporate sector to receive their doctorate degree and become business professors.

The project provides the tools necessary to learn about obtaining a doctorate and also provides support through peer networks, while participants pursue their degrees.

By increasing the number of minorities within business school faculty, the program hopes that more minority students will be attracted to business school programs. This will, in turn, increase diversity in corporate America.

“Georgetown always seeks to recruit and retain the very best faculty possible and makes specific efforts to encourage minority faculty members to join our community in order to enrich the educational experience offered here,” Julie Green Bataille, assistant vice president for communications, said. “The Ph.D. Project is one successful effort the business school has used in helping to build a strong, vibrant community at Georgetown.”

Hewlin was a retail branch manager and a vice president for Citigroup before pursuing her doctoral studies. As part of her job, she was constantly teaching employees various job skills and soon realized that teaching was her real passion.

“[Teaching] allows me to make a difference in the lives of students,” she said. “I have a passion to help future managers.”

Hewlin applied, and was accepted, to the annual Ph.D. Project conference, held each November in Chicago. The conference organizers receive between 1,000 and 1,500 applications each year and ultimately invite 400 people to the conference. Attendees are chosen based on their submitted resume, which includes test scores, prior work experience and a variety of essays. The purpose of the conference is to educate minorities, including African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Native Americans, who are currently in the corporate world, about obtaining their Ph.Ds. The conference provides all the tools necessary for the attendees to make a decision about whether or not they want to pursue their degree.

Hewlin said that joining the Ph.D. Project was “an avenue for me to learn more about doctoral programs in business . and meet others who are pursuing their Ph.Ds.”

Hewlin was accepted to the Ph.D. program at New York University to pursue her doctorate in management. During her years at NYU she also became involved in the PhD Project’s doctoral associations – peer groups that provide an opportunity for the Project participants to network, share experiences and generally mentor each other as they pursue their degrees. Hewlin spent a year serving as president of the Doctoral Association for anagement.

The KPMG Foundation is the founder and administrator of the Ph.D. Project, which began in 1994. It is also responsible for over half of the funding for the Project, and has already invested $8-9 million dollars. Since the inception of the project, the number of minority professors in American business schools has more than doubled. Professors such as Hewlin have helped bring success to the program.

“Patricia is extremely bright. She’s very highly motivated – she’s just a significant talent,” Bernard J. Milano, president of the KPMG Foundation, said.

Hewlin said she was attracted to becoming a professor because she knew it would allow her to not only teach, but also conduct research. She said she hopes to be able to write about her experiences in a company, as well as further research her interest in employee-managerial relations and the dynamics involved – including value conflicts and employee satisfaction.

“I knew I had a gift to teach and train people . going back to school and becoming a professor would allow me to use my skills and passion for research,” she said. “It’s important for students to have minority professors so they can experience enough diversity in the classroom.”

Hewlin will teach Management and Organizational Behavior when she begins in January.