The Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG) welcomes Mary C. Gentile as its 2024-25 Practitioner in Residence. As Practitioner in Residence, Gentile will serve as a member of the Institute’s 2024-25 cohort of Faculty Fellows. A world-renowned ethicist, consultant, and author, Gentile will spend three one-week sessions in residence on campus during the upcoming academic year.

Gentile was chosen as Practitioner in Residence because of the many connections between her work and ECG’s research theme for 2024-25, “The Good Life.”

“Mary Gentile has been a pioneer in helping countless leaders learn how to implement virtue ethics in their organizations, and she has contributed more than any scholar in recent memory to helping others see the deep practical relevance of these enduring ideas,” says Meghan Sullivan, director of ECG, director of the Ethics Initiative, and Wilsey Family College Professor of Philosophy. “We’re so excited to learn from her this year, and I am confident she’ll help our faculty reach new heights when it comes to helping their students untie all of the thorny ethical knots leadership roles can pose.”

Giving Voice to Values, Gentile’s innovative cross-disciplinary curriculum that develops and cultivates values-driven leadership in business, has been used in undergraduate, MBA, and executive education in hundreds of business schools.

Gentile served as Richard M. Waitzer Bicentennial Professor of Ethics at University of Virginia-Darden School of Business (2016-2022) and as faculty at Babson College (2009-2015). During her ten years at Harvard Business School (1985-1995), she developed and taught the school’s first course on managing diversity and helped design and teach its first required module on ethical decision-making. She is the author of many books, including Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What’s Right (Yale University Press), and edits a multi-book series with Routledge related to the curriculum.

As Practitioner in Residence, Gentile will discuss her work at a large-scale lecture for the Notre Dame community in the fall of 2024. This public lecture will be co-sponsored by the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, where Gentile serves on the Advisory Board.

"From her early work at Harvard teaching the first course on managing diversity and ethical decision-making, to her consultation with companies, NGOs, and governmental organizations around the world, Dr. Gentile has championed the development of inclusive, ethical institutions and workplaces throughout her career," says Jessica McManus Warnell, Rex and Alice. A. Martin Faculty Director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. "She has been described as a 'leader and legend' in the field and we are thrilled at the opportunity to share her expertise with our Notre Dame community through this appointment."

While on campus, Gentile will join the ECG’s Faculty Fellows for masterclasses, in which they present work in progress. She will also visit several undergraduate classes and lead a faculty workshop on the “Giving Voice to Values” curriculum.

When dates are confirmed for these events, details will be added to the events page of ECG’s website.

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The Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG), formerly known as the Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study, facilitates interdisciplinary research in foundational and applied ethics, coordinates projects that cross departments and units, and supports ethics-related education and public engagement efforts. ECG is a signature element of the Ethics Initiative, one of several University-wide strategic efforts that draw on expertise from multiple colleges, schools, centers, and institutes in order to make the most meaningful contributions to questions of national and international concern.

Originally published by Laura Moran Walton at ethics.nd.edu on July 24, 2024.