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Message from the Director
Stanford’s Center on Ethics was founded in 2003 in the wake of corporate scandals estimated to cost the United States some forty billion dollars. These massive moral meltdowns prompted reflection within many academic institutions about their own ethical responsibilities. At Stanford, concerned faculty proposed the creation of a university-wide center that would address questions of applied ethics. President John Hennessy and Provost John Etchemendy strongly supported the initiative, and provided start up funding that was matched by deans of all Stanford schools. In collaboration with the undergraduate Program in Ethics in Society, the Center launched its efforts to encourage research, teaching, policy, and programs on the central moral issues of our times.
Over the past five years, the Center has done just that. The Center’s curricular initiatives include support for new courses and for expanded coverage of ethics components in existing courses, collaborative teaching, innovative educational materials, service learning opportunities, and on-line resources. Through these activities, the Center aims to build students’ understanding of basic moral frameworks and ethical codes, as well as of the organizational dynamics and socio-economic pressures that give rise to concrete problems. Although skeptics often wonder whether ethics education in graduate and professional schools offers too little too late, a wide array of research indicates that well-designed courses can have significant impact. Future professionals need to know
where the moral boundaries are before they are in a position to cross one. They also benefit from considering recurrent dilemmas before they have a vested interest in coming out one way or another. Those who will one day occupy leadership roles in government, business, universities, and the professions should understand the cognitive biases and structural forces that skew ethical decision making, as well as the challenges of designing appropriate correctives. Opportunities for public service by graduate and professional school students can also help connect theory to practice and encourage civic engagement.
Center research, programs, and publications have played equally critical roles in advancing ethical analysis. The Ethics and Leadership series, named in honor of Nobel laureate and Center Advisory Board member Kenneth Arrow, has featured renowned experts on a wide range of topics. Lectures have focused on human rights, social inequality, public service, environmental justice, national security, health policy, gender equity, journalistic ethics, and campaign reform. So too, annual conferences and workshops have brought together leading scholars from multiple disciplines. The result has been widely-praised publications on topics of critical social importance, including moral leadership, gender equity, environmental conservation, and legal ethics.
Although much remains to be done, Stanford’s Center on Ethics has already established itself as a leader in the field. In all its efforts, the Center deepens our moral understanding and moves us closer to a society that reflects our highest aspirations.
I am deeply grateful to all who have made this effort possible, especially members of the Center’s policy and advisory boards, and its exceptionally talented and dedicated former and current staff: Dena Evans, Bisera Rakicevic-More, Noa Ronkin, Lawrence Quill, and Hasmet Uluorta.
Deborah Rhode
Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law
Director, Center on Ethics
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