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Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
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Now Hiring! Director of Bioethics

The Ethics Center is seeking an experienced professional to lead our Bioethics Program. This role explores key ethical issues in healthcare, biotechnology, and public health, with opportunities for program development, partnerships, and impactful thought leadership.

Join us in creating ethical solutions for the modern world.

Apply Today!

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AI and the Environment: Sustaining the Common Good

On November 1, 2024 the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and Next10 cohosted a daylong conference on AI and sustainability.

Access Recordings from "AI and the Environment" Panels

Two-Thirds of Americans Surveyed are Concerned With AI’s Impact on the Human Race

Eighty-three Percent Believe AI Should be Government Regulated

A new report, Ethics in the Age of AI,  outlines how Americans feel about artificial intelligence (AI) from an ethical standpoint. The Markkula Center and its Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC) surveyed 3,000 Americans aged 18+ and found that they have concerns about the technology’s impact on the human race.

Access Report Findings

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Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap

By José Roger Flahaux, Brian Patrick Green, and Ann Skeet

"Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap,” or, more briefly, the “ITEC Handbook,” offers organizations a strategic plan to enhance ethical management practices, empowering them to navigate the complex landscape of disruptive technologies such as AI, machine learning, encryption, tracking, and others while upholding strong ethical standards.

Download the ITEC Handbook

2023-24 Annual Report: Building Ethics in Community
All About Ethics: Perspectives From Across the Center
Catherine Breslin / Better Images of AI / Silicon Closeup / CC-BY 4.0

What does leadership look like, in the context of AI development, if the goal is optimizing for the common good?

Man standing in front of a body of water with people in the background

Religions can cultivate a powerful counterforce to the anti-immigrant sentiments and mass deportation threats of the Trump Administration by upholding the belief in the sanctity of all life and building accepting communities.

illustrations of many different objects and animals

The TikTok case is about privacy, recommendation algorithms, and geopolitics.

An Industry Leader in Ethics Consultation

For more than 35 years, the Ethics Center has helped individuals and organizations make better decisions and includes offering fee-for-service options for organizations that want a customized approach to building training programs, case studies, and other materials.

Featured Ethics Spotlights
Generative Artificial Intelligence including text, computer generated images.

Throughout history, new technologies have disrupted society in different ways–some positively and some negatively–from steam-powered engines and electricity, to the Internet, and now again with artificial intelligence (AI); generative AI in particular in this instance. The creation of art, journalism, education, and the very truth itself have all been tested by the use of ChatGPT and other generative AIs. Markkula Center staff and scholars unpack some of the many related ethical dilemmas in this Ethics Spotlight.

The U.S. Flag and Constitution, semi-automatic guns, a shooter with AR-15, and a human hand held in the air to block or stop the action.

The gun debate has again reached a fever pitch in the shadow of several horrific mass shootings. Ethics Center staff and faculty interrogate the moral and ethical issues associated with gun use and regulation.

California wildfire

The world has been experiencing worsening wildfire conditions for decades, and in California the situation is particularly bad. The Ethics Center staff and other scholars address some of the key ethical issues surrounding these disasters.

Center News
SCU President Julie Sullivan presents the Marty Melone Family with Founders Society Award in December, 2024. Pictured in photo: (seated) Marty Melone ’63; (standing l. to r.) Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Executive Director Don Heider, Donna Melone, Ethics Center Senior Director of Development Jim Kambe ’84, Markkula Center Advisory Board Member Denise Melone ’06, David Melone ’95, and Santa

Melone Family receives Santa Clara University’s most distinguished fellowship for long standing contributions to ethics education.

Illustration of an brownish-orange speech podium with microphone against a red backdrop.

SCU Ethics Bowl Squad Competed in the 2024 APPE Ethics Bowl California Regional Competition.

Bilal Arshadullah Santa Clara University Class of 2024

Former Health Care Ethics Intern, Bilal Arshadullah ’24, fills inaugural role in groundbreaking fellowship.

Jim Welsh Advisory Board Member, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Technology executive and development and strategy expert, Jim Welsh, expands his role with the Ethics Center becoming the newest member to join the Center's advisory board.

Voting for Ethics: A Guide for U.S. Voters

“Voting for Ethics” is a non-partisan, how-to guide for U.S. voters. It will help you identify the hallmarks of an ethical candidate and make a more informed decision -- whether for your local school board or a national election.

Purchase "Voting for Ethics"/Access Voting Ethics Resources

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Teaching Note: Interview of Theranos Whistleblower, Tyler Shultz

This teaching module for business ethics, leadership and management courses includes two videos, homework assignments, and class discussion, all designed to spark conversation about ethical issues associated with whistleblowers and corporate governance.

View the Teaching Module

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Evaluating Culture for Ethics

Our Culture Self-Assessment Practice recommends approaches to evaluating culture for ethics within companies and other types of organizations. The materials are primarily for members of an organization’s leadership team, including human resources and legal, but designed to engage a cross-section of leaders from various disciplines.

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Media Commentary
The Fresno Bee

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by The Fresno Bee.

John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Barrons.

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John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by The Street.

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John Pelissero, director, government ethics, quoted by Business Insider.

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