I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new academic program focused on the core of our mission: The Business Ethics and Society Program (BESP). This program will support teaching, research and other scholarly activities to further understanding of how business can contribute to integral human development (i.e., in such a way that the material, social and moral dimensions of people’s lives are all advanced). This includes exploring topics such as the moral purpose of business and business as a vocation.

Led by faculty director James Otteson, the John T. Ryan Jr. Professor of Business Ethics, the BESP was approved by the College Council in September 2021. The program’s chief aims include:

The BESP resulted from a proposal initiated in fall 2019 by Ann Tenbrunsel, Father Ollie Williams and myself for a new academic department in Mendoza that would engage Catholic social thought, provide a home for interdisciplinary research in the area of business ethics and society, and contribute to our mission to “Grow the Good in Business.”

While the proposal eventually became one for a new program instead of a new department, I am confident that the BESP will help us to advance our scholarship in business ethics and society, to coordinate our business ethics-related teaching and programming, and to create an intellectual community linking Mendoza departments as well as relevant units across the University.

The program’s goals (over the next few years) include offering an undergraduate minor and managing the College’s non-disciplinary courses in the area of business ethics and society. The BESP also will sponsor events such as conferences, lectures, guest speakers and student programming.

Perhaps the BESP’s most strategic and significant goal is the first one listed above: to attract top scholars in this space that is key to our identity as a Catholic business school. Because faculty appointments at Notre Dame must be to departments, institutes, colleges or schools, tenure-track faculty will not be appointed directly to the BESP. Rather, faculty whose primary home is the BESP will be appointed to either the Office of the Dean for non-tenure-stream faculty or with another department or school on campus in a collaborative engagement with tenure-stream faculty.

In addition to the three current tenured members of MCoB who are currently part of the BESP (Jim Otteson, Ann Tenbrunsel and Father Williams), our plans are to recruit new, additional tenure-steam faculty for the program. We recently filled one such position with the successful hire of Mary Hirshfeld, a leading scholar at the intersection of economics, theology and Catholic social thought in the context of business who will join Notre Dame on July 1. Mary was hired in collaboration with Arts & Letters’ Theology Department, where she will have her tenure home.

Current Mendoza faculty who wish to be affiliated with the program are welcome to do so voluntarily. Of course, BESP activities and events will be open to all faculty. 

The BESP’s future plans include offering undergraduate courses such as "Why Business?" and "Theology of Honorable Business" under the course designation BES starting in the 2022-23 academic year. The program also is moving forward with the development of the curricular minor to be proposed in spring 2023. Also in 2022-23, we hope to initiate another international search for at least one additional faculty appointment in the BESP.

Thanks to Jim, Ann and Father Ollie for their leadership.

In Notre Dame,

Martijn