The Center leads the discussion about society’s expectations for a professional’s responsibility at both the individual and organizational level. It promotes the development of responsible professional behavior in today’s students, enabling them to become effective leaders in constantly changing and challenging business environments. The Center also supports the creation and sharing of academic research and educational materials that demonstrate the value of conducting business professionally so as to serve and protect the broader public interest. The Center was initially funded with generous, separate donations from Deloitte and with some of the remaining funds following a judicial settlement. Deloitte has made subsequent gifts in support of the Center’s educational and conference programming, as have other corporations including BP, Ingredion, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft.

Freshmen in the College of Business at the University of Illinois all take Business 101: An Introduction to Professional Responsibility. Read about it here>>

An understanding of professional responsibility results in action. Business 101 asks the question “What should you do?” C.K. Gunsalus, author of The Young Professional’s Survival Guide and former Business 101 instructor, helps students form responses and habits that build a "professional responsibility muscle." Professor Gunsalus has further developed the Illinois two-minute challenge which seeks to “help students form responses and habits that build professional responsibility muscle.” Two-minute challenges are an integral part of the curriculum for this introductory class, which is required of every first-year business student. The impact of addressing these ethical challenges early and often, however, reaches far beyond the classroom and has merit in corporate settings as well.” To learn more about Gunsalus, Business 101, and our overarching mission, please read the full article which appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of Perspectives here>>

Director Winter wrote a focus piece in REVUE INTERNATIONALE DE LA COMPLIANCE ET DE L’ÉTHIQUE DES AFFAIRES on the framework for professionally responsible decision-making. The article may be accessed here>>

“Freshmen business students know all too well about the concept of professional responsibility: What do I owe to myself, my company and the world at large? The final third of the semester-long course is dedicated to the question of what companies owe society. This question, once the topic of theoretical debate, is becoming reality, not just in the classroom but in greater happenings around the world and here in the states.”

Professor Ira Solomon talks to Crain’s Chicago Business regarding the impact of the current financial on business education and how the Center will play an important role in shaping future business leaders. The article can be accessed here>>