The Baruch College Faculty Handbook
Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics
Last updated on 10/26/11
To: Baruch College Faculty
From: James McCarthy
Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
It is my great pleasure to invite members of the Baruch College faculty to submit their and their students’ work for the Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics. The prizes are funded by a gift from alumnus Charles R. Dreifus (’66, MBA ’73) in honor of Abraham J. Briloff, Emanuel Saxe Distinguished Professor of Accountancy Emeritus. The official announcement for both faculty and student prizes [and a list of previous winners, with links to many of the winning entries] appears below.
The emphasis of the Briloff prizes is ethics in professional life; to wit, ethics in the broadest sense. Writings on current ethical issues published in or intended for non-traditional venues -- such as essays, op-ed pieces, articles, and books -- are eligible for the prizes, as are those in more traditional scholarly settings.
I hope that you will consider making a submission for the faculty prize and will encourage and work with your students to submit an essay for the student prize. Identifying good student essays that come your way and then working with those students to refine their efforts for eventual submission can be rewarding for both student and faculty members.
Beginning in spring 2004, the college has set aside one week each spring during which members of the faculty are encouraged to discuss ethical issues specific to their subjects/disciplines in their classrooms; departments or programs invite outside speakers for public presentations; and students debate competitively in an ethics bowl. This year we will announce the winners of the Briloff Prizes as part of Ethics Week 2012 (March 26 - 31).
Previous faculty and student winners are listed below.
ABRAHAM J. BRILOFF PRIZES IN ETHICS
The Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics are intended to stimulate scholarship in the field of ethics, with an emphasis on ethics in professional life. The prizes are funded by a gift from alumnus Charles R. Dreifus, (’66, MBA ’73) in honor of Abraham J. Briloff, Emmanuel Saxe Distinguished Professor of Accountancy Emeritus. The prizes are awarded annually to a faculty member who has written an important topical article, essay or book on ethics and to a student or students who have written an outstanding research paper or essay, also as it relates to current events.
Ethics in professional life is used in the broadest sense. Relevant topics include but are not limited to: ethical decision making for managers and professionals related to business enterprises, the ethical and social implications of investment policies, ethics in public policy, ethics in law and medicine, ethics in the academic world, the ethics of business and government relations, and corporate accountability.
FOR THE FACULTY PRIZE, any faculty member may submit an article, essay, op-ed piece, or book, published or unpublished. Works must be topical and current; relevance is more important than length. THE FACULTY AWARD IS $1,500.
FOR THE STUDENT PRIZE, any currently enrolled Baruch College student may submit an original essay or research paper. Work that was done for a course may be submitted for this prize. Works must be topical and current; relevance is more important than length. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible. THE STUDENT AWARD IS $500.
The prize winners are selected by a committee of faculty from the Zicklin School of Business, the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, and the School of Public Affairs. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 17, 2012.
Submissions and questions should be addressed to:
Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics Committee
Office of the Provost
Email: Provost.Office@baruch.cuny.edu
Administration Building – Room D-701
Telephone: 646-660-6500
WINNERS OF THE BRILOFF PRIZE
FOR 2010 (awarded spring 2011)
Faculty Winner
Daniel W. Williams, School of Public Affairs, for his paper, “Is it Mutiny?” The Briloff Committee wrote: "This essay applies classical ethical theory to answer the question of when employees should be allowed to defy orders from their employers. Foundational work by Kant and Locke is analyzed to illuminate the role of the bureaucrat in following orders. The author draws examples from the time of the Third Reich to the more recent issue of issuing marriage licenses to gay couples. The well-known debate between the public administration scholars Finer and Carl Friedrich is also tapped. Probing the components of human dignity, the article explores the many aspects of a complex ethical issue."
Student Winners
The student prize (undergraduate) was awarded to Hyun Hwang, Rhett Kikuyama, and Danny Zeng, co-authors of “Privacy in the Workplace.” This paper was written for Prof. Grace Zhao, an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Computer Information Systems, who encouraged the students to submit their work. The Briloff Committee described this essay as "a well-researched and critical examination of the legal and ethical issues related to an employee’s private use of the company’s computer. In presenting the tension between the employee’s rights and the employer’s oversight responsibilities in the workplace, this paper makes a coherent argument for the recommendation that the employer engage in greater transparency and disclosure so that the employee is alerted to his company’s policy."
FOR 2009 (awarded spring 2010)
Faculty Winner
Douglas Lackey, (Department of Philosophy) for "Four Types of Mass Murderer: Stalin, Hitler, Churchill, and Truman," published in Moral Philosophy and the Holocaust.
Undergraduate Winner
Luis Sued, Zicklin School of Business for "Ethical issues found in TARP disclosure of information and how these have been addressed." Of Mr. Sued's essay, the Briloff Committee wrote: "This topical essay examines the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and examines the ethical dilemmas created through the use of vague statutory language. The student explains how the lack of transparency and disclosure has compromised tax payer protection, a stated goal of this legislation."
Graduate Winner
Ashok Kamal, Zicklin School of Business, for "Mission –Related Investing: Leveraging Capital Markets to Enhance Social Value." The Briloff Committee wrote about Mr. Kamal's work: "This provocative essay considers the ethical dilemma of asset wealth accumulation faced by philanthropic foundation managers. The reader will find a thorough survey of the relevant ethical, legal, and business issues surrounding investment choices that mirror a foundation’s mandate."
FOR 2008 (awarded spring 2009)
Faculty winners
Alfonso Quiroz (Department of History), for Corrupt Circles: A History of Unbound Graft in Peru (Woodrow Wilson Center Press and Johns Hopkins University Press)
David Rosenberg (Department of Law), for “Supplying the Adverb: The Future of Corporate Risk-Taking and the Business Judgment Rule” To be published in Vol. 6, Issue 2 of the Berkeley Business Law Journal (2009).
Undergraduate Winner
Frank Collins, a junior majoring in Accountancy, won for his essay, “To Die or Not to Die: Rethinking the Morality of Voluntary Euthanasia.” In naming Mr. Collins a winner, the Briloff committee wrote: “This well argued and clearly presented undergraduate paper considers the question of autonomy and links it to the issue of the morality of voluntary euthanasia. Approaching the conflict through the discussion of a recent, controversial French case, the author calls upon both Kant and J. Stuart Mill to clarify the arguments on either side of the debate.”
Graduate Winner
Margarita Oksenkrug, a full-time MBA student, majoring in Marketing, won for “The Ethics of Marketing to Children."
The committee wrote: “This is a powerful indictment of corporations’ use of advertising marketed to children with no thought to the consequences. This American model is contrasted with the European and Scandinavian regulations that require stricter standards, which the author invites the United States to imitate.”
FOR 2007 (awarded spring 2008)
2007 Faculty Winner
This year’s faculty award winner is Donald Schepers (Management Department) for his article "The Equator Principles: A Promise in Progress?" which will appear in Corporate Governance: An International Review.
2007 Undergraduate Winner
The undergraduate winner is Adriana Aldarondo for her paper "The Internet: A Fresh Frontier for an Old Disgrace: Is Freedom of Speech the Freedom to Hate Online?" Adriana is a senior in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Corporate Communications.
2007 Graduate Student Winner
Eileen Parfrey, a graduate student in the School of Public Affairs won for her paper,“The Ethics of Alzheimer’s Disease and Informed Consent,” which, according to the committee, "presents a careful examination of data and an impressive analysis of the two sets of principles that guide treatment of Alzheimer’s patients – the Belmont Report and the Common Good Approach."
FOR 2006 (awarded spring 2007)
2006 Faculty Winner
This year’s faculty award winner is Joel Lefkowitz (Psychology Department) for his article “The Constancy of Ethics Amidst the Changing World of Work,” which appeared in the June 2006 issue of Human Resource Management Review.
2006 Student Winners
The undergraduate student winner is John Pham for his paper “Web Accessibility and Equal Access to Information: The Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act on the Internet.” John is a lower senior in the School of Public Affairs.
Jim Holovat, our graduate student winner, receives the Briloff Prize for his paper, “Profit over People: The Corporate Greed Motive as the Case for CSR.” Jim is a second year MBA student.
FOR 2005 (awarded spring 2006)
2005 Faculty Winner
This year’s faculty winner was Professor Douglas Lackey (Philosophy), who received the faculty award for his article “The Good Soldier vs. the Good Cop: Counterterrorism as Police Work.” The article, which put forth the controversial proposition that terrorists are simply criminals who are best dealt with by the police, was published in the Jerusalem Philosophical Quarterly.
2005 Student Winners
Hamid Rashidzada, a junior finance major originally from Afghanistan, won the undergraduate prize for his essay “Sharing Consumer Information: U.S. Banking Deregulation and Its Impact on Consumers.”
The graduate student winner was Nikki Ortolani, a degree candidate in the School of Public Affairs, for her paper “Foundation Giving and Nonprofit Advocacy.”
FOR 2004 (awarded spring 2005)
2004 Faculty Winners
T.K. Das, Management
“How Strong are the Ethical Preferences of Senior Business Executives?” (PDF) in Journal of Business Ethics.
Don Plunkett, Marketing
The Thief Next Door: How to Compete Against People Who Justify Illegal Business Practices! (iUniverse, Inc., 2004). You can read an editorial review of The Thief Next Door at Amazon.com. Here is a direct link to the publisher, iUniverse, where The Thief Next Door earned the "Editor's Choice" designation.
2004 Student Winner
Kirsten Jansen
“Multinational Corporations and Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: Beyond Limited Liability”
FOR 2003 (awarded spring 2004)
2003
Faculty Winners
Professor Masako Darrough, Accountancy
The
FCPA and the OECD Convention: Some Lessons from the U.S. Experience
(PDF file)
Professor Joel Lefkowitz, Psychology
Ethics
and Values in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
(Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003)
Prof.
Lefkowitz's book was reviewed in the Winter 2004 issue of Personnel Psychology. The review, by Janet L. Kottke
and Kathie L.Pelletier, concludes with the sentence: "This
book shouldn't just be on everyone's bookshelf --
it ought to be read by everyone in the profession."
(For the complete review see pp. 10-14 of the linked
PDF file.)
2003 Student Winners
Allison Jacobs, MBA candidate, 2004
Payment
for Order Flow in the U.S. Equity Options Markets
Cornell Boswell, BBA candidate, 2004
Can
Legislation End Predatory Lending Practices in the Mortgage
Industry?
2002 Winners
Professor
Anton Alterman
David E. Rivera
2001 Winners
Professor
Donald Schepers
Aimee
R. Thome-Thomsen
2000 Winners
Professor
Douglas Lackey
Rita
Ormsby
Anna
Dziekan
1999 Winners
Professor
Neil Sullivan
Dov
Gertzulin
1998 Winners
Professor
Jerry Mitchell
Myrna
Shrouder-Yen
1997 Winners
Professor
S. Prakash Sethi
Margareth
Taube
1996 Winners
Professor
Gopalkrishnan Iyer
Jennifer
Toby
1995 Winners
Professor
Marilyn Neimark
Chan
Joo Moon
Submissions and questions should be addressed to:
Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics Committee
Office of the Provost
Email: Provost_Office@baruch.cuny.edu
Address: 135 E. 22nd Street, Room 710
Telephone: 646-660-6500
