Academy of Management Pulls 13,500-Person Conference Out of the U.S. 

The Academy of Management (AOM) is pulling its 2027 annual conference out of the U.S. through at least 2031, relocating four consecutive meetings to Europe and Canada after members raised alarm over U.S. immigration enforcement and the political environment facing international scholars. 

The 2026 conference in Philadelphia will be the last on U.S. soil for at least five years. AOM has since locked in Vienna for 2027, Toronto for 2028, Frankfurt for 2029, and London for 2030. This sequence marks a historic departure for an organization founded in 1936 that spent nearly nine decades meeting exclusively in North America.

Last year's Copenhagen conference was the first ever held outside the continent. It drew the most globally diverse participant pool in the organization's history and accelerated the board's thinking.

"Copenhagen showed us what AOM looks like when we remove barriers that impact participation, and we intend to build on it," said Tammy Madsen, AOM's president.

The economic stakes are real. AOM's 2025 Copenhagen conference drew approximately 13,500 attendees, generating tens of millions of dollars in hotel, restaurant, and tourism spending. Seattle, which was set to host in 2027, will not see any of it. 

The Data Behind the Departure

AOM's membership tells much of the story. Of the organization's 21,286 members, 63% live outside the U.S.

Madsen said the board's decision was also driven by visa wait times from select countries and Copenhagen's record attendance. Plans are to rotate the conference among North America, Europe, and the rest of the world, including Asia and South America.

The decision reflects a broader recalibration playing out across the global meetings industry. Destination decisions that once focused on airlift, hotel inventory, and convention center capacity are now weighed alongside ease of entry, member confidence, and geopolitics. 

The shift has a human face. Timo Lorenz, a professor at MSB Medical School Berlin, published an open letter explaining why he plans to skip this year's Philadelphia meeting, still scheduled for July 31–August 4. His research focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, a subject under political pressure in the U.S. 

 "I do not feel safe entering the U.S. at this time," he said.

Lorenz said the hesitation is widespread. "Some do not want to hand over their social media data, some of us are doing DEI research, others are people of color and do not want to enter the U.S. under the current government."

Members Considered the U.S. Environment

Attendance in Philadelphia is expected to be lower than in prior years, though Madsen said she couldn't provide specifics until closer to the event. "It's not surprising, with the visa issues, barriers coming to the U.S., and the concerns from our members about the U.S. environment."

Others in the academic community welcome the geographic shift for different reasons. Peter McNamara, dean of social sciences at Maynooth University and an AOM attendee since 1997, said the move toward non-U.S. locations was long overdue. "It is good for us to have the opportunity to attend the AOM conference closer to our home countries," he said.

AOM is not the only organization navigating these pressures. A petition to move this year's International Congress of Mathematicians, also scheduled for Philadelphia in July, has gathered more than 2,300 signatures over visa and immigration concerns.

The ICM has not been held in the U.S. in 40 years. Whether it moves or proceeds as planned, the pattern is the same: International academic organizations are treating the U.S. as a risky bet.