UNM’S ANDERSON SCHOOLS OF MANAGEMENT NAME RECIPIENTS OF JACK AND DONNA RUST ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

October 15, 2003

UNM’S ANDERSON SCHOOLS OF MANAGEMENT NAME RECIPIENTS OF JACK AND DONNA RUST ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS

Adjunct Professor John Ackerman and Professor Jeanne Logsdon have been named as the recipients of the Jack and Donna Rust Endowed Professorships in Business Ethics at the Anderson Schools of Management (ASM) announced Dean Howard Smith.

The professorships provide an initial contribution of $1 million and will be matched by the State of New Mexico through Senate Bill 14, the Endowment for University Excellence, amounting to an additional $600,000. The two professorships cover a five-year period.

“The action taken by the Rusts speaks loudly to the Schools’ dedication to teaching ethics to students before they leave the University,” said Ackerman. “One of the Rusts messages to us is to continue and expand the teaching of ethics. We have an established track record in ethics education, both in the public and private sectors, and their support will enable us to continue to build upon that success.”

“The teaching of ethics is an ongoing process,” said Logsdon. “The Schools have been teaching required courses in ethical and responsible business behavior since the mid-1970s. The Professorships add more breadth and visibility to this commitment.”

Logsdon received the Academic-Liaison to Community professorship, which will include serving businesses needing assistance with ethical issues and business planning; mentor students and student teams providing assistance to New Mexico businesses; produce applied research on business ethics issues for leading business journals; teach courses with a practical orientation for improving ethical decisions by businesses and their managers, while enhancing the existing curriculum; and participate in the UNM’s Freshman Learning Community initiatives either by designing a course and or teaching one each year.

“It’s a challenge to figure out the best way to serve local business needs and to try and figure out what best suits their needs,” said Logsdon. “We’ll conduct lectures and workshops and other activities and identify those that are the most meaningful to the business community.”

Ackerman received the Practitioner professorship and his focus will be managing the Schools’ link with the business community; teach courses with a practical orientation for improving ethical decisions by businesses and their managers while enhancing existing curriculum; cultivate a series of executive speaker seminars that will be of interest to the New Mexico business community; and also participate in UNM’s Freshman Learning Community initiatives.

Logsdon has been a faculty member at The Anderson Schools since 1989 and is the editor of Business & Society, a top academic journal in the business field. She conducts research on topics related to corporate social performance. Ackerman joined ASM in 1997 as an adjunct/visiting professor. He has served on numerous committees and boards and is the retired president and CEO of Public Service Company of New Mexico and is now chairman emeritus of the Board of Public Service Company of New Mexico.

A third professorship, the Jack and Donna Rust Endowed Professorship in Biomedical Ethics, was also awarded to the UNM Health Sciences Center Institute for Ethics. Funds generated by the endowment will be used to address objectives critical to the Institute’s mission.

Initiatives include providing educational seminars and presentations on biomedical ethics for UNM HSC health care practitioners; offering interdisciplinary educational programs to students across the University; hosting public programs such as open houses, lectures and workshops; creating mentorship programs; developing and disseminating ways to assure that graduating physicians are well versed in biomedical ethics; offering consultation and outreach to a wide array of organizations; and conducting and disseminating evidence-based research and scholarship on topics of critical importance to our national, state and local communities.

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