History of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University

Since its founding in 1851, Santa Clara University has been committed to the centrality of ethics and morality in life. Today, all undergraduates are required to take courses in ethics, and many Santa Clara graduate programs require such courses. Faculty in almost every department of the university have research interests in this field.

In the mid 1980s, University President William Rewak, S.J., and Academic Vice President Joseph Subiondo developed a plan to create an enhanced emphasis on ethics by establishing a university-wide center on applied ethics. When A.C. "Mike" Markkula Jr. attended an SCU parent weekend in 1986 for his daughter Kristi, then a freshman, he and his wife Linda listened as Subiondo described the vision for the new center. One of the co-founders of Apple Computer, Markkula had been troubled by what he saw as a new generation of "moral agnostics," young people who did not seem to put ethics into the equation as they made the important decisions in their lives. He became convinced that Santa Clara's faculty was addressing the issue head on.

With seed money the Markkulas, SCU founded the Center for Applied Ethics in 1986 to bring together faculty from various disciplines with an interest in ethics and to develop ways to integrate ethical considerations into the classroom. The Center also developed basic materials on ethics, including a "Framework for Ethical Decision Making," which remains one of the most widely used of the Center's resources. Manuel Velasquez, professor of management and now SCU's Charles J. Dirksen Professor of Business Ethics, was the Center's first director.

In the '90s, the Ethics Center significantly expanded its programs in the community under the leadership of University President Paul Locatelli, S.J. It entered into partnerships with such institutions as the Tech Museum of Innovation (to integrate ethical considerations into displays at the museum's new facility); O'Connor Hospital (to create the joint-venture Applied Ethics Center at O'Connor); the city of Santa Clara (to create core values and a code of conduct for the municipality); several Bay Area court-community school districts (to integrate ethics into the curriculum); and various on- and off-campus groups for programs on regional social issues. Some of these were explored through a series of major conferences focusing on such topics as Courts and the Mass Media, Managed Care, and Ethics and Technology.

In 1995, to honor a generous endowment from the Markkulas, the Center was renamed the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. In 1999, it became a University Center of Distinction, one of four University centers designed to play a prominent national role. In 2000, for their work at the Ethics Center, the Center's second executive director, Communications Professor Thomas Shanks, and Markkula were chosen to be on the San Jose Mercury News Millennium 100, a list of 100 people who have made Silicon Valley what it is today.

As the Center grew, the University relocated it from one room in Orradre Library to a small house on campus, and, in 1998, to its permanent home in the new Arts and Sciences Building, where it enjoys 4,100 square feet of offices, conference rooms, and the Wiegand Teleconference Center. From a staff of a part-time director and assistant director, the Center grew to a staff of 12, plus two to four visiting scholars each year.

In 2001, Kirk O. Hanson succeeded Acting Executive Directors Dennis Moberg and Velasquez to head the Center's efforts as executive director. University Professor of Organizations and Society, Hanson joined the Santa Clara faculty from Stanford University, where he had taught for 23 years. The Center's programs have been further expanded since 2001 and now include research, teaching and action in Business Ethics, K-12 Character Education, Biotechnology and Health Care Ethics, Governmental and Public Policy Ethics, Philosophical Questions in Applied Ethics, and Emerging Issues in Ethics. The Center offers a wide range of conferences, lectures, classes, workshops, training, and consultation on ethics both on the Santa Clara University campus and in the wider community.