The History of the Academy of Management

On 2 November 1936, Professors Charles L. Jamison of the University of Michigan and William N. Mitchell of the University of Chicago sent letters to teachers of management courses, inviting them to a meeting at the Quadrangle Club, University of Chicago to discuss the formation of an organization of educators to advance the philosophy of management. The professors who attended the meeting on 28 December 1936 agreed that the new organization should be called Academy of Management (AOM). They decided that the future annual meetings were to be used for exploring the organization's purpose and for the presentation and discussion of scholarly papers.

As AOM evolved, concerns arose around the lack of support for scholarly research in management. Members saw such research as the necessary foundation for defining AOM as an academic, rather than a practitioner organization. To formalize AOM’s support for research and the exchange of ideas, the membership created a constitutional committee at an AOM meeting in 1940. A constitution formally adopted on 30 December 1941 declared AOM’s scholarly purpose.

No meetings were held during the World War II years. Reactivation of AOM occurred on 27 December 1947 in Chicago. The following year in Cleveland, AOM expanded to become an organization of college teachers of management. The original founding members became AOM Fellows.

Since its beginning in 1936, AOM has evolved from an organization of 10 members to an organization of over 18,000 members from nearly 120 countries. Today, The Academy of Management continues to support scholarly activity and the exchange of ideas through our 26 Divisions and Interest Groups promoting excellence in established management disciplines; the Annual Meeting; specialized conferences; six journals and associated content; AOM News; Connect@AOM; and collaborative activities with affiliated and associated societies.

Prior to 1994, AOM’s head office was located at the volunteer treasurer's university, which rotated with each new appointment. That year, AOM’s Board of Governors made the decision to hire a professional staff for the growing association and conducted a national search for a more permanent home. Pace University’s Westchester, NY campus was selected from the field of potential candidates and AOM resided there from 1994 to 2016. In 2016, AOM moved off-campus to an independent space at 555 Pleasantville Road, Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. In 2024 the Academy moved to its offices at The Summit in Valhalla, NY.