Scholar and author Mary C. Gentile (gen-TILL-ee) will speak about ethical dilemmas facing business leaders and students in a public address scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 14 in Dwire Hall 204.

As part of the UCCS College of Business Ethics Initiative, Gentile, a scholar at Babson College, Babson Park, Mass., and author of the new book "Giving Voice to Values: Speaking Your Mind When You Know What's Right" will challenge assumptions about corporate and academic business ethics. She gives business leaders, managers and students tools to recognize what is right and to ensure that the right things happen.

This networking event is free and open to the public. Gentile also will sign copies of her book. For more information, visit www.uccs.edu/businessethics/Events.html.

"We look forward to conversations on ethics in the workplace among faculty, students and the business community," said Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, assistant professor in the College of Business and director of the College of Business Ethics Initiative. "The Giving Voice to Values curriculum provides students tools for developing responses to value conflicts in the workplace."

Said Venkat Reddy, dean of the College of Business, "Mary Gentile's visit offers us an opportunity to emphasize how we are building our students' success by equipping them with ethical decision-making skills, thanks to support from the Daniels Fund."

Gentile consults on management education and values-driven leadership. In her 10-year tenure at Harvard Business School, she developed and taught the school's managing diversity course and helped design and teach its first required ethical decision-making module. Currently she is director of the Giving Voice to Values curriculum and senior research scholar at Babson College. Her articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, strategy+business, BizEd, CFO Magazine, and Risk Management, and she has written several books on ethics and diversity.

The College of Business Ethics initiative is part of a five-year program supported by a $1.25 million grant from the Daniels Fund. The purpose of the College of Business Ethics Initiative is to instill ethical principles into the personal and organizational decision-making process of every member of the UCCS community. This integrative learning environment will create leaders with integrity, capable of responsible global business management and conscious of the accountability inherent in corporate governance.

The Daniels Fund created a consortium of schools and expertise through eight universities that will develop programs and teaching resources to instill a higher standard of ethics in business school students. The initial grant and ongoing support and leadership of the Daniels Fund will affect education in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming and beyond. The Daniels Fund is a private foundation established by cable pioneer Bill Daniels, who is widely known for his recognition of the importance of principles, ethics and integrity in business success. For more information, visit http://www.uccs.edu/businessethics.