From April 12 to 15, 2026, the 2026 International Conference and Annual Meeting (ICAM) of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) was grandly held in Seattle, Washington, U.S. As an influential annual event in global business education, themed Uniting Global Voices, the conference gathered global insights to discuss the future of the industry. It attracted over 1,200 experts, scholars and industry representatives from more than 170 business schools across 76 countries and regions, who conducted in-depth discussions on core topics including strategic leadership, industry trends, technological innovation, accreditation development and thought leadership.
The year 2026 marks the 110th anniversary of the founding of AACSB, making this ICAM conference both a milestone commemoration and a valuable professional practice event. The conference featured 18 themed forums focusing on five cutting-edge directions: integration of AI and education, responses to global changes, social impact and accreditation trends, sustainable development and climate literacy, as well as innovation and interdisciplinary ecosystems. It delved into key issues such as the development of AI-First business schools, the application of artificial intelligence in teaching and research, geopolitical impacts, global talent cultivation, improvement of climate literacy, and interdisciplinary innovation in business education. Through keynote speeches, special seminars and parallel forum exchanges, the event drew a blueprint and offered practical guidance for the high-quality development of global business education.
Invited by the conference, Professor Zhang Changzheng, Dean of our School, led a four-member delegation to attend the event. At the special session for Chinese business schools co-hosted by Geoff Perry, AACSB Vice President and Chief Executive Officer for Asia Pacific, and Guodong Xu, AACSB East Asia Regional Head, Dean Zhang Changzheng delivered a special speech. He systematically shared the school’s educational characteristics, talent cultivation philosophy and development achievements, and engaged in in-depth exchanges and mutual learning with more than 100 business representatives from over 50 mainland universities, fully demonstrating the school’s educational strength and international vision.
During the conference, the delegation proactively engaged with leaders of world-top business schools and educational institutions, holding multiple efficient and pragmatic international cooperation talks to connect with high-quality global resources and explore cooperation opportunities. The participation not only secured authoritative and professional guidance for the School’s AACSB accreditation process and further clarified the promotion roadmap for accreditation, but also built a cooperation bridge with renowned global business schools and established an extensive and close international cooperation network. Going forward, taking this international exchange as an opportunity, the School will continue to deepen dialogue and collaboration with global partners, actively absorb advanced concepts and practical experience of global business education, explore new paths for discipline development, talent cultivation, digital transformation of majors, international project cooperation and global exchanges, strive to advance the high-quality development of business education, and accelerate the development into a high-level business school with international influence.
