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Waide Center for Applied Ethics

The Patrick J. Waide Center for Applied Ethics advances learning, research, and dialogue about the leading ethical issues of our time.

Our Mission

The mission of the Center is to work with Fairfield University students and faculty, as well as regional, national, and international leaders in a wide variety of fields, to develop strategies for managing ethical challenges in professional and applied ethics—including ethical issues in business, healthcare, science, law, engineering, computing, education, environmental policy, criminal justice, and artificial intelligence.

Standing in the Jesuit tradition of preparing men and women for others, the Waide Center seeks to develop and strengthen the capacities of persons to engage ethical issues in a reflective and pragmatic way.

The Waide Center Pursues Three Strategic Directions

The Waide Center offers courses across the University on ethical issues in various professions and fields, including business, nursing and health studies, engineering and computing, education, communications, and environmental studies.

The Center supports research conducted by students, faculty, and practitioners, primarily through competitively awarded stipends.

At the Waide Center, there is work to develop and facilitate a variety of programs – speakers’ series, panel discussions, workshops, conferences, and mentored relationships – to serve constituents beyond the University campus.

Video Poster

Ethics in Action

Discover how the Patrick J. Waide Center for Applied Ethics at the Dolan School of Business is shaping ethical leadership and decision-making in the business world.

Our History

Established in 1980 with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, an applied ethics program was developed at Fairfield University aimed at advancing learning, research, and dialogue about the leading ethical issues of our time. In 2018, with a generous donation by Patrick J. Waide Jr., it was renamed the Patrick J. Waide Center for Applied Ethics. The Center now operates as a university-wide center in close coordination with the deans of the Dolan School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, and the School of Education and Human Development.

The Waide Center integrates interdisciplinary courses, seminars, lectures, colloquia, and workshops in the fields of professional ethics (business, healthcare, science, law, engineering, computing, education, and artificial intelligence), ethics for the citizen (government, community, democracy, criminal justice, war, and peace), and global studies (ethical dimensions of global violence, global health, environmental policies, business practices, and humanitarian action). This unified approach to the theory and practice of ethical conduct in all fields raises student awareness of the moral dilemmas of their chosen fields of practice, of allied fields, and of society and the world. The Center
offers a series of core-level and elective courses and seminars in service to various academic and professional programs, and a 15-credit minor.

In 2002, Patrick J. Waide Jr. '59, a former University trustee and distinguished alumnus of Fairfield University, generously established a continuing fund to support invited speakers, course materials, and scheduled activities on topics of international affairs, global ethics, and public policy. In 2018, Mr. Waide made a major gift to endow Applied Ethics as a Center, which now bears his name.

News from the Waide Center

A striking image of the Dolan building, highlighting its unique design and integration into the campus.

“Is Capitalism Morally Defensible?” Seminar, Nov. 20

Three individuals seated on chairs before a stage displaying a banner that reads "The Battle for Your Brain."

Hundreds Flock to Lecture on "The Battle for Your Brain"

More Waide Center Stories

Through the Lens: Highlights from the Waide Center

Audience members listen to a speaker.
Three professionals engage in conversation.
Two audience members engage in conversation.
Professionals laugh and talk with one another.

Seminar Series

Video Poster

Climate Change Geoengineering and Risk

Hosted by Marion Hourdequin, Professor of Philosophy at Colorado College.

Video Poster

When is Nepotism Justified?

Hosted by Jeffrey Moriarty, Professor of Philosophy and Executive Director of the Hoffman Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University.

A student sits at a table.

Enhance Your Education with an Applied Ethics Minor

Fairfield University’s 15-credit minor in applied ethics allows you to learn the history, terminology, forms of reasoning that underlie the practice of ethical conduct and more.

Faculty and Staff

Director

Gregg Caruso
Gregg Caruso
Professor, Management

Affiliate Faculty

Joan Lee
Joan L. Lee
Professor, Accounting
Eric Peterson
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Management
David Schmidt
David Schmidt
Associate Professor, Business Ethics
Scott Ventrella
Instructor of the Practice, Management

Staff

Cyndi Palaia
Program Coordinator Dolan Centers

Get In Touch

  • 1073 North Benson Road
    Fairfield, CT 06824

  • (203) 254-4000

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Location
10 minutes
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60 minutes
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