Greetings to CESR Friends and Family!

Michael Leeds

CESR's Executive Director Donna Sockell and Michael Leeds recently attended the "Partners in Business Ethics" 3rd Annual Conference hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's College of Business. The conference was put on by U of I's counterpart to CESR, the Center for Professional Responsibility, and lasted for an evening and a day in late September.  The conference supports the ongoing collaboration between industry and academic leaders committed to preparing young professionals to lead with integrity in today's workplace. Donna shared, "This collaboration is essential to developing state-of-the-art pedagogy." 

The conference included business leaders - mostly ethics and compliance executives - from a variety of companies including Shell, Deloitte, BP, Walmart and Lockheed-Martin. Deans and ethics leaders from well-known universities like Penn State, Dartmouth and University of Texas were also in attendance.

Michael Leeds was specifically impressed with a presentation by a professor who spoke about doing business in impoverished areas of the world. By producing products that bring value to these less-fortunate people, you not only utilize a "subsistence marketplace," but also "create tremendous value for those customers and learn an awful lot about things that could be carried to other parts of your business," Leeds believes. 

Read More 

Warren Buffet

We are pleased to announce that Warren Buffett has invited CESR to send students to an event in Omaha, Nebraska in March of 2013. Twenty Leeds students will be able to attend this once in a life opportunity that includes visits to two Berkshire Hathaway companies, and a Q & A and lunch with Mr. Buffett himself. Since we are expecting a high demand from Leeds students for these 20 slots, we are designing a competitive application process, the details of which will be announced soon.

CESR was specially awarded this opportunity after sending Mr. Buffett a CESR compass with these words of recognition: "You are an outstanding role model for our business students. Just as the compass always provides us with a true north, you have lived your life with a strong moral compass of integrity and honesty. Thank you for providing such a positive example to future business leaders." We have been told that Mr. Buffet treasures the compass and keeps it on his desk. Even though the waiting list for this event is over 200 schools long, Mr. Buffett instructed his assistant to reach out to CESR personally with this special invitation. We are honored and thrilled to be able to offer this unique opportunity to our Leeds students.

John Lynch

CESR is proud to recognize two Leeds faculty members, Professors John Lynch and Russell Cropanzano, as new CESR Faculty Affiliates of our program. CESR Faculty Affiliates are Leeds Faculty whose work is aligned with CESR's mission and values, primarily through their research or teaching but also because of their service interests.

Professor Lynch's current research focuses on the role of financial literacy in consumers' financial decisions.

Russell Cropanzano

He is also the Director of the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making. Professor Cropanzano's research focuses on fairness perceptions within work groups and what makes an action perceived as ethical. This is Professor Cropanzano's first year at Leeds - he comes to us from the University of Arizona where he was the Research Director at the Center for Leadership Ethics. Welcome on board, Professors Lynch and Cropanzano!

Francy Milner

CESR is proud to announce that faculty member Francy Milner has been awarded the Outreach and Engagement Award for her project on Gender Equity in Clean Energy Development of the Navajo Nation, directed by professors in the Business, Law, and Theatre departments. Francy's project was one of two selected from 71 applications received this year and focuses on achieving gender equity through sustainable development projects.

Speaking of her project, Francy says, "Women living in poverty, whether on the Navajo Nation or in developing countries, are adversely affected by lack of access to clean energy - for heat, for cooking, for lighting in their homes. Yet they have incredible, untapped potential to promote clean energy technologies that can benefit themselves, their families, the community and the environment." With this energy project, the women are given the responsibility and power to address energy needs and stimulate the local economy by introducing solar-powered lights and exploring the creation of a Navajo-run-and-owned project.

Read More 

As another year began in the Leadership Challenges classroom, one could feel the anticipation and excitement of everyone in the room. This top-rated, signature course is based on an interactive model that brings in six high-level executives to share their experiences and present ethical dilemmas.   

Read More 

Andrea Pauline

The Leeds School of Business is known for preparing student leaders for the corporate world. However, Andrea Pauline ('11 Management) has used her degree in the poverty-stricken world of Uganda instead.

Andrea began her Leeds experience hoping to earn a degree that would help her open a coffee shop. But when she did a three-month microfinance internship in Uganda and was exposed to the atrocious conditions that many children suffer in orphanages, her goals quickly shifted from a coffee shop to making a societal difference in Uganda. "I had learned about microfinance in one of my classes at Leeds and became fascinated with the concept of using my business skills as a solution to global poverty," says Andrea.