Christos & Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics

Ethics in Action: Growing an Ethics Chair One Conversation at a Time

Seven years ago, Southern New Hampshire University created it first endowed chair, making it one of a handful of institutions of higher learning in the nation that will dedicate significant resources to programs and events emphasizing ethics in education.

The Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics was established in December 2001 during a turbulent time in the history of America. Not only had the world witnessed the collapse of the twin towers on September 11, but also the plummeting of the U.S. stock markets. Corporate America was rocked by drastic financial losses, a tidal wave of bankruptcies and a round of corporate scandals of breathtaking magnitude. America’s lack of attention to ethics was headlined from outside its shores and within its own communities.

It was at this critical juncture and in this climate that the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Distinguished Chair in Ethics was charged with establishing a vital presence in the life of the Southern New Hampshire University and its regional community. 

The charge focused on two key areas for maximum impact:

• First, becoming the cornerstone for the development of an integrated university curricula and culture infused with ethical lessons drawn from the Classics, ancient and contemporary;
• Second, evolving as a significant resource for the university and business communities.

Mission:

Ethics in Action: Across our Curriculum and our Community

The mission of the Christos and Mary Papoutsy Endowed Chair in Ethics derives its mandate from the mission of the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU): to create an educational environment in which students “develop the knowledge to understand a complex world, the skills to act effectively within that world, and the wisdom to make good choices.” Ethics as a discipline concerns the wisdom to make good choices.

Aristotle claimed that practical wisdom or prudence is a true disposition to action based on right deliberation about what is good for oneself, or one’s group or community.  The Ethics Chair aims to inspire both a true disposition to action and right deliberation both across the curriculum and within the community. 

Using the Classics as a foundation and extending its ideas through contemporary writers and thinkers, the Ethics Chair brings into the curriculum and community dialogue the cultural, historical and contextual intellectual traditions through which we have come to understand the exercise of ethical choices.