William R. Torbert’s Legacy in Transforming Doctoral Education through Collaborative Developmental Action Inquiry. An Intergenerational tribute

This article honors the legacy of William R. Torbert (1944–2025) through an examination of his final collaborative project: a three-year initiative to reimagine doctoral education through Collaborative Developmental Action Inquiry (CDAI). Torbert’s final message, delivered three months before his death, serves as the point of departure for a reflexive exploration of an intergenerational research community of European doctoral students and faculty engaged in non-traditional action research dissertations. We show how Torbert’s concepts of first-, second-, and third-person inquiry/practice, timely action, and developmental friendship shaped our collective work and enabled a more relational, reflexive, and practice-based approach to doctoral development. By reflecting on this emergent inquiry community, we illustrate how CDAI can deepen individual research processes while also supporting institutional shifts toward more participatory and developmental forms of doctoral education. The article concludes with implications and perspectives for universities seeking to cultivate action-research-oriented doctoral cultures.