Back to All Posts

Job Openings

Position Announcement: Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics

Published on

Department of Ethics and Business Law – Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas

 The Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas invites applications for the Barbara and David A. Koch Endowed Chair in Business Ethics to begin Fall, 2020.  David A. Koch was the former President and Chairman of the Board of Graco, Inc. located in Minneapolis Minnesota, and a longtime benefactor of the University of St. Thomas along with his wife Barbara. The mission of the Koch Chair is to institutionalize and advance the role of Business Ethics in the educational programs of the University of St. Thomas through teaching, research, faculty development, and curriculum development. Drawing upon the liberal, professional, and Catholic mission and identity of St. Thomas, the Koch chair plays a leading role in making the ethical aspects of management a distinctive feature of business education at the Opus College of Business.

The Chair is a member of the Ethics and Business Law Department in the Opus College of Business with one of the largest Business Ethics faculty in the world.  The Chair has ample financial, human and organizational resources including an annual two course teaching load and research support. The Chair serves in a leadership role for the Center for Ethics in Practice, coordinating applied business ethics research, as well as serving as an advisor to other institutional organizations. The Chair also participates in Business Ethics activities that enhance the national and international reputation of the Opus College of Business and the University of St. Thomas on an ongoing basis.

The Chair is responsible for research through continued scholarship and active participation in community, corporate and professional activities. The Chair teaches Business Ethics in programs in the Opus College and is a liaison for Business Ethics for the rest of the University and the Profession. As part of these responsibilities, the Chair develops curricula, and faculty and professional relationships, that enhance Business Ethics education at the University of St. Thomas.

Founded in 1885 by John Ireland, the archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, The University of St. Thomas is a Catholic co-educational liberal arts institution.  St. Thomas has grown from humble beginnings to become Minnesota’s 17th largest nonprofit organization and the largest outside the field of health care. With more than 6,000 undergraduate and 4,300 graduate students, St. Thomas is also the largest private college or university in Minnesota.

St. Thomas seeks to deliver an education of unquestionable excellence, rooted in the Catholic faith tradition, to students from a wide variety of backgrounds. The university distinguishes itself as a liberal arts, comprehensive university that emphasizes a value-centered, career-oriented education — one that sees beyond “career” to “calling”— and as an outstanding teaching university with faculty and staff whose scholarship, service and personal attention to students change lives.

The Opus College of Business is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB). It is dedicated to fulfilling the university’s mission through undergraduate and graduate business programs that transform the way business is taught and practiced. Principled Leadership is one of three strategic pillars of the Opus College of Business and signifies the commitment to business ethics of the College.

The ideal candidate will be a full professor with a Ph.D. or terminal degree in a relevant field and an outstanding record of scholarship and teaching as well as a demonstrated ability to build relationships with local business and community leaders and other colleagues in the field of business ethics. The candidate should support the missions of the University of St. Thomas and the Opus College of Business. Interested candidates should provide a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, and references. Applications should be submitted by October 1, 2019, although the position will remain open until filled. For further information, please contact Senior Associate Dean Michael Garrison, Search Committee Chair, at mjgarrison@stthomas.edu.