The relevance of business ethics will be the topic of the featured lecture of the Del Alamo/Hogan Symposium on Business Ethics, hosted by the Pamplin College of Business on Thursday, April 8, at 7 p.m.

The online lecture, part of Ethics Week at Virginia Tech, March 29-April 8, will be given by David Goldman, founder and chairman of Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. The organization promotes ethical leadership within the professions, using the actions, choices, and motivations of their professional counterparts in Nazi Germany as a starting point for analysis.

The virtual event is free and open to the public. Attend the event here.

A question-and-answer session, moderated by management professor emeritus Rich Wokutch, will follow the talk. In addition to Goldman, the Q&A session panelists will be Pamplin Advisory Council president Bridget Ryan Berman and management associate professor of practice Kimberly Carlson.

Goldman is a retired partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. He served as the head of the firm’s international corporate practice and as head of the firm’s New York office. He is now a partner in Rosemark Capital Group, an investment firm focusing on investments and operations in digital marketing.

He has served on the boards of a number of organizations. He was chairman of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, served on the board of directors of the Yale Law School Fund, and is on the board of the American Friends of the Polin Museum. Goldman received a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in 1973 and a law degree from Yale Law School in 1976.

During Ethics Week, faculty members are encouraged to discuss ethical issues related to their course content. Other Ethics Week events, all virtual:

March 30, 7 p.m.: Process Safety Management and Ethics in the Chemical Industry, a talk by Virginia Tech chemical engineering alumnus Rob Walker.

April 1, 7 p.m.: Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Cutchins Leadership Lecture Series, featuring Col. Lee Ellis, author of “Leading With Honor.”

April 6, 12 p.m.: SIRC Investigator Series - Conducting International Research: Ethics and Regulatory Considerations, a webinar for graduate students and faculty to learn about ethical and regulatory framework used in protecting human participants in research.

April 7, 5 p.m.:  Exploring the Ethical Politics of Storytelling in Communities of Struggle for Social Change, with Kim Niewolny, of the Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation; Max Stephenson, of the Institute for Policy and Governance; Bob Leonard, of the School of Performing Arts; and Shannon Turner, of StoryMuse.

April 7, 5:30 p.m.: Sustainability Leadership Lecture, by Omar Asali, CEO of Ranpak and member of the Virginia Tech Foundation Board.

April 7, 7 p.m.:  VT Ethics Bowl: championship round.

In its 29th year, the ethics symposium is supported by Pamplin alumni Robert F. Hogan Jr., who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting in 1978 and 1980, respectively, and Jorge Del Alamo Jr., who earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1969, and his wife, Lin.

Additional sponsorship is provided by Bridget Ryan Berman, who received a bachelor’s degree in general business in 1982, and her husband Roger Berman, and the Business Leadership Center of the Department of Management.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Amy Transue at 540-231-2107, or email aweis07@vt.edu during regular business hours at least five business days prior to the event.

Share this story