Leaders and scholars to grapple with questions of business ethics and leadership

February 12, 2008

Business, leadership, and legal scholars from the country’s top universities will discuss key leadership and ethical issues at the University of Richmond’s Donchian Symposium on the Ethical Challenges of Leadership on March 5. 

The day-long symposium will present 10 speakers who will examine ethics in corporate leadership, federal government and the psychology of ethics and the role of ethics.

Ray C. Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Interface Inc., a company with a vision of "Mission Zero", promising to eliminate any negative impact it may have on the environment by 2020, will speak on the topic of  responsible corporate environmentalism.

Neal Katyal, a Georgetown University law professor who recently argued and won a Supreme Court case challenging the military trials of suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, will discuss the ethics of leadership at Guantanamo as it relates to core American values.

Medal of Honor recipient Leo K. Thorsness will deliver the keynote address, preceding a closing reception. Thorsness received the Medal of Honor, the highest honor of the United States government for valor in action, for his service in Vietnam, where he flew 93 missions, was shot down and tortured as a prisoner of war. He is 2007–08 leader-in-residence at the university’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies, where a chair has been endowed in his honor.

Other speakers and presentations include:

Joanne B. Ciulla, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, “The Ethical Fabric of Leadership”

Thomas Donaldson, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, “The Unknown Known: Ethics in a Sub-Prime Age”

Jerry M. Evensky, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, “Morals and Markets”

Jonathan Haidt, University of Virginia, “The Moral Psychology of Leadership”

Kristine Huskey, National Security and Human Rights Clinic, University of Texas at Austin, “Legal Ethics and Moral Dilemmas in Times of Terror”

Juliette N. Kayyem, Undersecretary for Homeland Security to Gov. Deval L. Patrick, Mass., "Does it Change on the Inside?  From Antagonist to Advisor"

Joshua D. Margolis, Harvard Business School, “Exploring the Responsibility Gap”

Jointly sponsored by the university’s Robins School of Business, Jepson School of Leadership Studies, and School of Law, the event is made possible by a grant from the Richard Davoud Donchian Foundation, which is dedicated to “building the framework for intelligent, ethical and compassionate leadership.”

The complete schedule is available at www.jepson.richmond.edu/ethics/agenda.pdf.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is required by Feb. 15 at www.jepson.richmond.edu/rsvp/ethics.htm. For more information or to register by telephone, call (804) 287-1960.