See AHF press release here.
March 29, 2010 - A special event Friday, April 9, will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the publication of the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Birmingham's historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, an expert panel will discuss the book's role in awakening America's conscience to racial injustice. Activities will continue at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (across the street from the church) with a reception from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and an exhibit featuring works of art inspired by the novel.
The event, which is free and open to the public, is cosponsored by the Mann Center, Cumberland School of Law and Alabama Humanities Foundation, with support from Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Panelists include John Carroll (moderator), dean of the Cumberland School of Law; Delores Boyd, former federal magistrate and coauthor of the book Jim Crow and Me: Stories from My Life as a Civil Rights Lawyer; Jonathan Bass, chair of Samford's History Department and expert of the civil rights movement; and Susan Swagler, literary critic for Birmingham Magazine and other publications. Click here for an event flier in PDF format.
March 29, 2010 - 'The Missing Girls of China and India: What Can Be Done?' Mann Center Director John Knapp interviews Cumberland School of Law Professor David Smolin, organizer of a recent conference examining the large-scale elimination of females from the populations of China and India. In one of the largest but least noticed violations of human rights today, China in just one generation has eliminated approximately ten percent of its females at birth, India perhaps as many as five percent, leading to a loss of tens of millions of women and girls.
March 29, 2010 - "Focus on Ability" is the topic of a 10 a.m. presentation Tuesday, March 30, by Carolyn Cartwright, a corporate executive recognized as an innovator in developing career opportunities for people with disabilities. Her leadership at SunTrust Banks, an Atlanta-based institution with $172 billion in assets, has attracted new talent for the bank's 1,700 locations. The presentation in Reid Chapel will discuss what a university may learn from corporate efforts to ensure the full participation of people with disabilities. Later in the day she will meet with university leaders and students to explore these issues in more depth.
Her visit is cosponsored by the Mann Center and Samford Counseling Services & Disability Support Services as part of Disability Awareness Week and the Brock School of Business Executives-in-Resience Week. The lecture, which is open to the public, is one of the Mann Center's A. Gerow Hodges Lectures in Ethics and Leadership. Convo credit is available to students.
March 25, 2010 - Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., will be featured in a panel discussion Monday, March 29, at Samford University. The 3 p.m. event will be in Brock Recital Hall and is open to the public.
Sessions will be questioned by a panel of faculty experts: William G. Ross, professor of law; Fred Shepherd, chair and professor of political science; and Beck A. Taylor, business school dean.
Sessions has served in the U.S. Senate since 1997. He is ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and serves on the Armed Forces, Energy and Natural Resources, and Budget Committees. He is a member of Samford’s board of overseers. His daughter earned both undergraduate and law degrees at Samford.
The event is cosponsored by Samford’s Brock School of Business, Cumberland School of Law, Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership and Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society.
March 4, 2010 - March 10 - Wes Cantrell will speak at Samford University at 1:00 p.m. in Brock Forum (Dwight Beeson Hall) on the topic, "Character or Currency? Measuring Success in Business Leadership." Mr. Cantrell retired as chairman and CEO of Lanier Worldwide after leading the company through a successful merger with copier manufacturer Ricoh. A board member at Ann Taylor Stores and Wells Real Estate Funds, he has written two books: 'High-Performance Ethics: 10 Timeless Principles for Next-Generation Leadership' and, most recently, 'From The Shop Floor to The Top Floor: Releasing The CEO Within'. "Greed offers one of the great - and often fatal - illusions of life," he writes. "It offers satisfaction if we'll only remain unsatisfied, a dull-witted bargain that [ethical] leaders vet and reject." A book signing will follow his presentation.
March 30 - "Focus on Ability" is the topic of a 10 a.m. presentation by Carolyn Cartwright, a corporate executive recognized as an innovator in developing career opportunities for people with disabilities at SunTrust Banks, an Atlanta-based company with $172 billion in assets and nearly 1,700 branches. Under her leadership, the firm has attracted new talent for all areas of its business. Her presentation in Reid Chapel will discuss what a university may learn from corporate efforts to ensure the full participation of people with disabilities. She will meet with student leaders in the afternoon to explore these issues in more depth. Her visit is cosponsored by Samford Counseling Services & Disability Support Services.
Both events are part of the Mann Center's continuing series, the A. Gerow Hodges Lectures in Ethics and Leadership. There is no charge and the public is welcome. Convo credit is available to students.
In the United States and around the world, there is growing recognition that ethical leadership is more crucial than ever. The Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership promotes the vital connection between ethics and good leadership in business, government, social services and classic professions.
“Leadership in the 21st century requires more than just effectiveness in getting things done,” explained John C. Knapp, university professor and director of the center. “Tomorrow’s leaders must be distinguished as people who, in the leading of their own lives, provide examples worth following.”
Based in Brock School of Business, the Mann Center has a university-wide mission, and is a point of collaboration for scholars and practitioners seeking to address issues in business, health care, law, education and other fields of practice. Its innovative educational offerings meet the needs of learners from the university classroom to the corporate boardroom.
Established in 2008, the center was made possible with support from Samford alumnus Marvin Mann, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Lexmark Corp. Its name honors the memory of his late wife.
The Mann Center supports teaching and curriculum development across the campus, and conducts cocurricular programs on a wide range of current issues. It also works with local, national and international organizations to develop initiatives addressing often daunting challenges of our increasingly complex society.
The Frances Marlin Mann Center for Ethics and Leadership is a catalyst for the development of ethical leaders for the 21st century:
Promoting the moral formation of students and equipping them for leadership in vocational, community and family life.
Serving as a center of teaching excellence, empowering faculty with the methods and resources to integrate ethics effectively into all facets of the curriculum.
Fostering productive moral discourse around challenges facing individuals, the professions and society.
Encouraging cross-sector collaboration to address complex challenges facing society.
Engaging the professional and business communities for mutual learning and the advancement of ethical values and practices.