Deans Conference

Leading Across Boundaries

Leading a business school today means managing constant transformation while balancing institutional strategy, faculty culture, financial sustainability, innovation, stakeholder expectations, and long-term relevance in a rapidly changing global environment.  Yet few spaces exist where business school deans can speak candidly with peers who truly understand the realities of the role.

The AACSB Deans Conference 2026 is intentionally designed to feel less like a traditional conference and more like a trusted global leadership retreat for business school deans; an opportunity to step away from daily pressures, connect candidly with peers, think differently, and lead across boundaries together. 

This year’s theme, Leading Across Boundaries, reflects the evolving nature of the dean’s role itself, requiring deans to work across disciplines, sectors, stakeholder groups, cultures, technologies, and institutional silos while building more connected, innovative, resilient, and future-focused business schools. 

Bringing together nearly 700 leaders from more than 60 countries, the conference creates a trusted environment for open dialogue, meaningful peer exchange, collaborative problem-solving, and strategic reflection. It is a space where deans can move beyond surface-level conversations and engage directly with fellow leaders navigating many of the same opportunities, pressures, and leadership challenges.

Sal Khan

Keynote Speaker

---

Sal Khan, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Khan Academy

Sal Khan is the founder and chief executive officer of Khan Academy and Vision Steward and board member of TED, two global nonprofits that provide free education to more than 200 million people worldwide.

What began as tutoring his cousins online has grown into a learning platform serving people in more than 190 countries and 50+ languages. In addition to Khan Academy, Sal founded Schoolhouse.world, Khan Lab School, and Khan World School, advancing innovative approaches to teaching, learning, and peer-to-peer education.

Sal is the author of The One World Schoolhouse and Brave New Words, co-author of Teaching Students to Use AI Ethically & Responsibly, and author of the forthcoming Job Shock (2027), which examines how AI will transform the future of work, and how societies can build learning systems that help people adapt, learn new skills, and thrive. He has been recognized as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People and holds three degrees from MIT in math, electrical engineering, computer science, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Laura Huang

Keynote Speaker

---

Laura Huang, DMSB Distinguished Professor of Management and Organizational Dynamics, Northeastern University

Laura Huang is the DMSB Distinguished Professor of Management and Organizational Dynamics at Northeastern University. She previously served on the faculty at Harvard Business School and the Wharton School. An electrical engineer by training, Laura works extensively with executives and organizations around the world on "quantifying the unquantifiable" in leadership, strategy, and innovation to help address the practical challenges leaders face when making consequential decisions under uncertainty.

Laura is the international best-selling author of EDGE: Turning Adversity into Advantage and You Already Know: The Science of Mastering Your Intuition. She has been recognized as one of the Top 40 Business School Professors Poets & Quants and was a recipient of the 2020 Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences. In 2021, she was named to the Thinkers50 List as a management thinker whose ideas have the potential to shape the future of business and management.

Who Should Attend?

This event is exclusively for deans and heads of higher education business units (the highest academic authority or official of the business unit), and AACSB business members in leadership roles. Registration substitutions replacing one individual with another individual for the same event will not be granted for this event.

Connect With Us

For more information, please contact [email protected].

Guest Receptions Package

Bring a guest to the Deans Conference receptions. The price of 75 USD per reception includes either the Welcome Reception on 19 October, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. or the Networking Reception on 20 October, 5:00-6:00 p.m. The price for both receptions will be 150 USD. The price does not include admission to any other Deans Conference sessions. Please note that the receptions are included in the registration fee for regular conference attendees. Do not register yourself if you are already registered for the Deans Conference.