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No Penalties Morgan Grad’s $500,000 Gift Funds a Lectureship in Business Ethics Willie E. Lanier Sr.
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n May 2015, Morgan State University announced a major financial commitment from one of its favorite sons: a $500,000 gift to establish the Willie E. Lanier, Sr. Endowed Lectureship in Business Ethics in the Earl G. Graves School of Business and Management (SBM). Lanier, a 1967 graduate of Morgan, was a standout football player both during his collegiate career and in the National Football League, where he earned induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He also has made his mark in business as the president and CEO of Virginia-based Lanier Group LLC and as the senior advisor of Cary Street Partners. “This endowment is a testament to Mr. Lanier’s commitment to academic excellence in the area of business, and we are very fortunate to be the recipients of his generosity,” said Fikru Boghossian, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business and Management. “Every business program has some aspect of business ethics either as a course or a seminar, but what we want to do here at Morgan with the Lanier Endowed Lectureship is unique. No. 1, we want to engage our faculty to do research in business ethics and then publish the findings of the research in journals for wider dissemination. Second, we want to do pedagogical research that investigates and recommends improvements in the teaching of the subject area of business ethics.” The endowment will also support graduate students, especially doctoral students, who do their dissertation research in business ethics, Dr. Boghossian reported. And guest lecturers will be invited to speak to MSU students and the community on the subject. When the revenues of the endowment have grown enough, the SBM will host mini-conferences on business ethics on campus.
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MORGAN MAGAZINE VOLUME I 2016