“Renewing Mission and Identity in Catholic Business Education,” the Eighth International Conference on Catholic Social Thought and Business Education, will be held June 18-20, 2012, at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio.

St. Thomas’ John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought at the Center for Catholic Studies is an institutional sponsor of the conference.

In light of the recent financial crisis, business scandals and other difficulties in the economy, there has been significant interest in the role of business education and its impact on educating highly principled leaders. Catholic business education plays an important role in this formation of future business leaders so long as it takes seriously its mission and identity. 

In an effort to energize mission-driven business education in Catholic universities, the conference will examine two major areas in next year’s conference:

1. Exploring how a Catholic university deepens and revitalizes its culture and institutionalizes its mission and identity in business education.
2. Developing curricular materials, processes, models and ideas that reflect the mission and identity of business education at a Catholic university.

With these two areas in mind, the conference will explore effective ways to institutionalize mission-driven business education in the areas of hiring/recruitment, faculty development, evaluation and tenure, and other issues.

In addition to the presentation of academic papers, the conference will address plenary topics:

•  Catholic Social Principles and Business: Peter Cardinal Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (invited but not yet accepted);
• The Challenges of Institutionalizing Mission (panel): Don Briel, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, and Rev. James Heft, S.M., Alton M. Brooks Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif., and recipient of the 2011 Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh C.S.C. Award, (confirmed);
• The Challenges of Mission-Driven Business Education (panel): Ellen Harshman, dean of the John Cook School of Business at St. Louis University, St. Louis, M., (confirmed); Thomas Bausch, former dean, School of Business at Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis., (confirmed); and Joseph DiAngelo, dean of the Haub School of Business at St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pa., (invited but not yet accepted);
• Rethinking Business Education: William M. Sullivan, author of Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Liberal Learning for the Profession (Jossey-Bass) (confirmed).

For more information on the conference and its call for papers see www.stthomas.edu/dayton, or contact Dr. Michael Naughton, (651) 962-5712