SLU Launches Emerson Leadership Institute
The Emerson Leadership Institute at Saint Louis University's Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business hosted the inauguration and dedication of the Emerson Leadership Institute Wednesday, October 7. The event brought together business leaders, educators and students to celebrate the official launch of the Institute and recognize Emerson's ongoing support of Saint Louis University.
Mark Higgins, Ph.D., dean of the Chaifetz School, opened the evening by acknowledging Emerson and announcing the appointment of the Emerson Leadership Institute's new executive director, Beth-Anne Yakubu, who assumes the position at the end of October. She takes over for Timothy Keane, Ph.D., the founding executive director of the Institute.
Following the opening, David Webb, director of the Emerson Leadership Institute and moderator for the evening, recounted some of the Institute's major accomplishments since its official inception in in the fourth quarter of 2014, marked by Emerson's pledge of $3 million in January of 2015.
Among the announcements, Webb unveiled the Institute's new online professional certificate program called Sustainable Business Leadership, the first offering in a portfolio of leadership courses the Institute is developing.
Webb went on to recognize the Emerson Leadership Institute's steering committee for their support and guidance in launching the Institute and then turned the stage over to David Farr, Chairman and CEO of Emerson.
Together, we can build much better leaders, better managersand better skills for individuals to succeed in the ever changing global marketplace, and to do so with integrity and commitment to the highest personal and professional standards.
David Farr, chairman and CEO of St. Louis based Emerson, underscored the importance of ethical standards and core ethical training to develop true leaders for the future.
"SLU's programs will empower corporate leaders and their teams to always do the right thing and drive stronger corporate citizenship throughout organizations," said Farr.
Business ethics and community citizenship and involvement are very important to Emerson and Farr, personally, who sees the investment in the Emerson Leadership Institute as vital, now more than ever.
"Together, we can build much better leaders, better managersand better skills for individuals to succeed in the ever changing global marketplace, and to do so with integrity and commitment to the highest personal and professional standards," Farr added.
Chris Collins, S.J., assistant to the president for mission and ministry at SLU, echoed Farr's sentiments on the importance of ethical business and related his comments to a key message in Pope Francis' second encyclical, On Care for Our Common Home (Laudato Si'), in which he declares that all economic activity is and must always be about people.
The evening concluded with a leadership program featuring presentations and a panel discussion on ethical business and responsible leadership. Chris Lowney, author of Heroic Leadership and chairman of the Catholic Health Initiatives, spoke about the importance of self-awareness. He challenged guests to step back from the world every day, to reflect, be grateful and nurture the personal courage it takes to be a leader.
"Leadership often means getting comfortable with the reality of being uncomfortable," Lowney said.
James Joseph, dean of the Madden School of Business at Le Moyne College, introduced the Global Jesuit Case Series, a repository of real-world business cases distinguished by its focus on the ethical and sustainable dimensions of business leadership and management. A partnership of over 200 Jesuit colleges and universities, it provides a series of business and social policy case studies that embody the values of social justice, human dignity, moral leadership and sustainability-an invaluable resource for educating and cultivating ethical leaders to make a positive impact in the world.
The relationship between Emerson and Saint Louis University goes back nearly 25 years with the establishment of the Emerson Ethics Center in 1990. The Emerson Leadership Institute is the next evolution of this long-standing partnership between Emerson and the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business.