Envision Our Next 100 Years

The 100-year endurance of legal studies in business schools is not surprising. After all, law is the foundation for creating business enterprises, the glue that holds together commercial relationships, and a voice for the expression of society’s expectations for business behavior. Law and ethical behavior are intertwined and complementary. Though we celebrate our 100-year history, we are actively looking forward to the next 100 years! The ALSB realizes the myriad ways that society and business are changing, and the speed of that change, and recognizes that the academy must continually examine and communicate its value and relevance to business and business education. Our 2023-24 President, Leigh Anenson, and President-Elect, Alex Reed, discuss their vision for the ALSB.

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Leigh Anenson

Alex Reed

Centennial Speaker's Series

We are excited about our virtual Centennial Speaker’s Series, supported by the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at University of Pennsylvania, Wharton. Outstanding thought leaders and scholars will help us contemplate how the discipline can use and build upon legal and ethical foundations to respond to future challenges and opportunities for ethical and legal studies in business.

Centennial Blue Ribbon Committee Report

In anticipation of the Centennial, in 2022 the Executive Committee convened a Blue Ribbon Committee, and asked it to produce a “White Paper on the Next Century of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.” The White Paper will help the ALSB take steps to increase the relevance of the profession in business schools and business school curricula and will lay the groundwork for the flourishing of the ALSB and its members for the next 100 years. Specifically, the committee was asked to:

Reflect on the past 100 years of accomplishments, challenges, and evolution of the ALSB and the profession of business law/legal studies, in order to inform a forward looking analysis for the Academy’s next 100 years, and
Recommend actions that the ALSB and its members should take to ensure the value of the ALSB and the profession is maximized and recognized by academia, practitioners, and the community throughout the next century.

The Centennial Blue-Ribbon Committee is chaired by Caryn Beck-Dudley (AACSB), and includes members: Charlotte Alexander (Georgia State University), Joan Gabel (University of Pittsburgh), Jere Morehead (University of Georgia), Robert Thomas (Indiana University), Eric Yordy (Northern Arizona University), Reporter, and Jamie Prenkert (University of Minnesota), ex officio as ALSB Immediate Past President.

A final report will be shared with the membership at the Centennial Meeting in Washington, DC, August, 2024.

Regional Town Hall Discussion

At each regional meeting this centennial year, members of the ALSB Executive Committee will be moderating a “town hall” discussion which will ask you to think about and discuss the following four questions:

1. From your perspective, what will the landscape of legal studies and business ethics look like in the future, in academia broadly, and at your institution? What changes do you foresee in the near future in the teaching or research environment with respect to the fields of law or ethics in business schools?

2. Who will be the people who will serve as instructors or researchers in the fields of law and ethics in business schools as we move into our next century? In other words, who will be members of our academy, and/or who will be the people we should try to bring in and serve through our academy?

3. In what ways should our academy serve our community as we move into our next century? What should we emphasize?

4. All organizations change with time – ours certainly has. Are there any structural changes you might suggest as we move into the next century of our disciplinary association?