Ethics Initiative
A series of free-spirited conversations between students and leading experts and faculty, that center on ethical issues, the societal responsibilities of scientists and engineers, and the complex problems we face in technology, economy, education, engineering and science in today's modern world.
How Can We Feed a Growing World and Sustain the Planet?
Speaker: Professor Jonathan Foley
Director, Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota
Board of Advisors, The Dalai Lama Center for Ethics at MIT
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 4:30PM
Venue: E51-115, Reception following in Building 54, Room 923.
12th Annual Henry W. Kendall Memorial Lecture
Jonathan Foley is the director of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of the Minnesota, where he is a professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior. He also leads the IonE's Global Landscapes Initiative.
Foley's work focuses on the sustainability of our civilization and the global environment. He and his students have contributed to our understanding of global food security, global patterns of land use, the behavior of the planet's climate, ecosystems and water cycle, and the sustainability of the biosphere. This work has led him to be a regular advisor to large corporations, NGOs and governments around the world.
Foley joined the University of Minnesota in 2008, after spending 15 years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin, where he founded the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. He and his colleagues have published numerous articles in the scientific literature, including highly cited work in Science, Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He has also written many popular articles and essays, including pieces in the New York Times, Scientific American, SEED, E360, the Guardian, Momentum, and elsewhere. His public presentations on global issues have been featured at hundreds of venues, including the Aspen Environmental Forum, the Quatauqua Institution, and TED.
Foley has won numerous awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Award; the J.S. McDonnell Foundation's 21st Century Science Award; an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellowship; and the Sustainability Science Award from the Ecological Society of America. In 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
Co-Sponsor(s): Center for Global Change Science, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
Womens Right's in Iran and the Islamic World
Speaker: Dr. Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 4-5 PM
Venue: MIT- Wong Auditorium (E51-115)
Part of Institute Diversity Summit
Shirin Ebadi is a lawyer, human rights activist, and the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her work defending the rights of women and children in Iran, and advocating an interpretation of Islam which is compatible with democracy and human rights. She is the first Iranian and Muslim woman to receive the prize. Ebadi received a law degree from the University of Tehran in 1965, and became one of the first female judges in Iran.
In 1975, she was the first Iranian woman to preside over a legislative court. Following Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, Ebadi was demoted to the position of a clerk in the court she had presided over because the revolution deemed women unfit to serve as judges. Unable to accept the discrimination against her, she resigned, and although her application was repeatedly rejected, finally obtained a license to open a law firm. For the next two decades, Ebadi devoted her life to the promotion of women's rights, the defense of children, and political activists. Her organization, the Association for Human Rights Advocates, provides pro bono legal service to political prisoners in Iran. Shirin Ebadi has spoken out strongly against discrimination and injustice in her country, at times despite great risk to her own safety.
In 2000, she spent a month in solitary confinement as a result of defending the family of a student killed by the police in protests in Tehran. Shirin Ebadi's principal arena is the struggle for basic human rights and the fundamental value that political power in a community must be built on democratic elections. She favors dialogue as the best path to changing attitudes and resolving conflict, and as a conscious Muslim believes there is no conflict between Islam and fundamental human rights.
Dr. Ebadi is the founder of three NGOs in Iran, The Association for the Defense of the Rights of the Child, The Association for Human Rights Advocates, and the Organization against Mines in Iran. She is the author of 14 books, including available in English a memoir Iran Awakening; Refugee Law in Iran; and, The Golden Cage.
Comeback America: Turning the Country Around and Restoring Fiscal Responsibility
A Talk by The Honorable David M. Walker, President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and Former Comptroller General of the United States
Wednesday, October 6, 2010 at 7PM
Venue: MIT Building E51, Room 325 (map)
Dave is President and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. In this capacity he leads the Foundation's efforts to promote federal financial responsibility and accountability today in order to create more opportunity tomorrow.
Prior to assuming his position with the Foundation in March of 2008, Dave served as the seventh Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) for almost ten years. This was one of Dave's three presidential appointments each by different Presidents from both major political parties during his 15 years of total federal service.
Dave also has over 20 years of private sector experience, including approximately 10 years as a Partner and Global Managing Director of Human Capital Services for Arthur Andersen LLP. During this period, he also served as one of the two Public Trustees for Social Security and Medicare.
In addition to his leadership responsibilities at the Foundation, Dave serves on various boards and advisory groups, including as Chairman of the United Nations Independent Audit Advisory Committee, as a member of The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Advisory Committee, and as a member of the Trilateral Commission. Dave has authored three books. The most recent, Comeback America, shows how we can return to our nation's founding principles, and outlines a number of sensible solutions to get America back on track. He is a frequent writer and commentator, and is a subject of the critically acclaimed documentary I.O.U.S.A.
Phillip L. Clay is the MIT chancellor and professor of city planning. As chancellor, he is one of the Institute's two most senior academic officers, with oversight of: graduate and undergraduate education, student life, student services, and the management of certain MIT large-scale institutional partnerships.
Widely known for his work in U.S. housing policy and community-based development, Professor Clay has been involved in several studies that earned national attention. Professor Clay is a founding member of the National Housing Trust, which focuses on housing preservation. He is also president of the Board of The Community Builders, Inc. the country's largest nonprofit affordable housing developer. In addition, Professor Clay has served on the policy advisory council of the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae). He served as Chairman of the Board of a local community college from 2002 to 2006. He serves as a member and Vice Chair of the MasterCard Foundation board, serves on the Kresge Foundation Board, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative Board of Directors. In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Professor Phillip Clay received his bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his doctorate in city planning from MIT. A member of the MIT faculty since 1975, he served as associate head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning from 1990 to 1992 and as department head from 1992 to 1994. From 1994 to 2001, Professor Clay served the Institute as associate provost. His publications include two books: Neighborhood Renewal: Middle-Class Resettlement and Incumbent Upgrading in American Neighborhoods, and Neighborhood Politics and Planning (with Rob Hollister).
Co-sponsored by MIT Leadership Center
Made for Goodness
A Talk by Mpho Tutu
Introduced by Philip F. Mangano,
President and CEO The American Round Table to Abolish Homelessness
Former Executive Director,
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 4PM
Venue: Simmons Hall, MPR (map)
(This event will be followed by a book signing by the author. Books will be available for purchase.)
The Reverend Mpho A. Tutu, an Episcopal priest, is the founder and Executive Director of the Tutu Institute for Prayer & Pilgrimage.
Ms. Tutu has run ministries for children in the downtown Worcester, Massachusetts; for rape survivors in Grahamstown, SA; and for refugees from South Africa and Namibia at the Phelps Stokes Fund in New York City. She earned her MDiv from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts and began her ordained ministry at Historic Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.
Ms. Tutu is an experienced preacher, teacher, and retreat facilitator. With her father, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, she has authored the recently published book, “Made for Goodness”.
The Reverend Mpho Tutu is the Chairperson Emeritus of the board of the Global AIDS Alliance, the Chairperson of the Board of Advisors of the 911 Unity Walk, and a trustee of Angola University.
Ms Tutu is married to Joseph Burris; they have two daughters, Nyaniso and Onalenna.
Philip F. Mangano is President and CEO of The American Round Table to Abolish Homelessness, whose mission is to be a strategic partner with every level of government and every element of the private and faith-based sectors to prevent and end the long misery of homelessness for our poorest neighbors. Internationally recognized for his bold leadership on an issue seen as intractable, Mr. Mangano's unique blend of business experience, public service, and personal commitment energize partners to focus on solutions. The Round Table is committed to strategies that are research and data driven, performance-based, consumer-centric, and results-oriented and to rapid dissemination of innovation, information, and inspiration to its partners. For the past seven years, Mr. Mangano led the national strategy to prevent and end homelessness in his position as the Executive Director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Mr. Mangano was appointed as the Council's Executive Director in 2002, serving under both President George Bush and in the first 100 days of the Obama Administration. Mangano's successful results-oriented strategies and innovative initiatives focused the Council's mission to coordinate the Federal response to homelessness and to create partnership throughout government and the private sector to end homelessness. His new strategies resulted in an unprecedented national partnership of 20 Federal agencies, 53 Governors, and over 1,000 Mayors and County Executives partnered in over 350 local jurisdictional Ten Year Plans. With his leadership, new interagency and community collaborations have been established across the country. The prioritization by the Council on the prevention of homelessness and rapid re-housing of homeless people focused Federal policy and encouraged local plans and investments from the public and private sectors.
Integrity and Inner Transformation
A Talk by Don Morrison, Chief Operating Officer of Research In Motion (RIM- Blackberry)
Introduced by Professor Murial Medard
Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 7PM
Venue: Simmons Hall, MPR (map)
Don Morrison is the Chief Operating Officer of Research In Motion. Don oversees all domestic and international operations focusing on the development and execution of a world-class, customer-driven organization to support the BlackBerry wireless solution. Before joining RIM in 2000, Don undertook a number of senior leadership positions in Canada, the United States, Europe and the Middle East with AT&T and Bell Canada. Don is the founder of the Golden Thread Charitable Foundation and the Morrison Centre for Peace and Conflict Research. He is on the board of HealthyKids International and is a member of the Strategic Planning Committee for SickKids Hospital Foundation. Don holds an MBA and BA from the University of Toronto and also participated in the Executive Program at the University of Virginia, Darden Business School.
Muriel Médard is a Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. She was previously an Assistant Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and a member of the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. From 1995 to 1998, she was a Staff Member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Optical Communications and the Advanced Networking Groups. Professor Médard received B.S. degrees in EECS and in Mathematics in 1989, a B.S. degree in Humanities in 1990, a M.S. degree in EE 1991, and a Sc D. degree in EE in 1995, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Optical Communications and Networking Series of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, as an Associate Editor in Communications for the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and as an Associate Editor for the OSA Journal of Optical Networking. She has served as a Guest Editor for the IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology, the Joint special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory and the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking on Networking and Information Theory and the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensic and Security: Special Issue on Statistical Methods for Network Security and Forensics. She serves as an associate editor for the IEEE/OSA Journal of Lightwave Technology. She is a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Society.
Event Co-sponsors:
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Ethics Initiative is supported through the generosity of the Hershey Family Foundation.
