Dear Colleagues,

The Weatherhead School of Management is taking entrepreneurship in directions that might surprise some people. The core idea is that businesses could generate wealth in ways that recognize multiple stakeholders in their activities (not just the shareholders) and recognize increasing resource limitations. Therefore it has highlighted Sustainability as a core theme of its education, and one of the main research directions of the School is work to show how “the social and global issues of the day can become bona-fide business opportunities.”

Much of this effort is taking place in and through the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value. http://weatherhead.case.edu/fowler/ What does this involve? Even if some cases that fit the hopes can be found, can that really be turned into a prescription for practice by many more businesses? Roger Sailant will discuss the Fowler Center initiative and respond to questions as we discuss a topic that is important to the university, but could also have implications for the development of modern economies.

As usual, we will gather in Room 9 of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, on the lower level of Crawford Hall, for free cookies, beverages, and brown bag lunch.

Best regards,
Joe White

About Our Guest

Roger Saillant, PhD, is a recognized authority in renewable energy and sustainability and has served as a pioneer in fuel cells, energy policy, and holistic management techniques. His extensive corporate experience includes seven years as CEO of Plug Power, a cutting-edge fuel cell company. Prior to that, he was a senior executive at Ford Motor Company and Visteon Corporation, and he has worked to open plants and operations in Eastern Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Dr. Saillant teaches and speaks on sustainability issues, and recent speaking engagements have been at leading colleges and universities including the Sloan School at MIT, Fordham University, and New York University. Another of his passions is communicating sustainability concerns to mainstream society–in this vein, he has recently co-authored a novel, Vapor Trails, dealing with some of today’s hottest issues, such as climate change, carbon sequestration, and corporate control. The book has received excellent expert reviews.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

April 16: : Does Environmental Responsibility Mean the Elderly Should Accept “Natural” Deaths? With Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Professor of Philosophy, Brown University.

April 23: Science in the Courts. With Wendy Wagner, Joe A. Worsham Centennial Professor, University of Texas School of Law.

The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of Crawford Hall. Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made. On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.

Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building. The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch. On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.

For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.