Thomas Donaldson Faculty Profile

Thomas Donaldson
Mark O. Winkelman Professor; Professor of Legal Studies and Business Ethics

PhD, University of Kansas, 1976; BS, University of Kansas, 1967

Research Areas
Business ethics; leadership; corporate governance; corporate compliance

Recent Consulting
Ethics, leadership, and corporate governance: FTSE, Wachovia, TYCO, United Nations, and KPMG

Current Projects
Writing articles on: 1. Ethics and hedge funds; 2. Stakeholder theory; and 3. Strategic theory and ethics

Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 1996-present (named Mark O. Winkelman Professor, 1996). Previous appointments: Georgetown University; University of Virginia; Loyola University of Chicago

Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
Outstanding Teacher of the Year award in both 2005 and 1998 and the Excellence in Teaching Award for 2007, 2006, 2005, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999 , and 1998); Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Georgetown University; Distinguished Researcher of the Year, Georgetown University; Named most influential “thought leader” in Ethisphere Magazine’s 2007 ranking of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics

Professional Leadership 2005-2009
Associate Editor, Academy of Management Review, 2003-2007; Chair, Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management, 2008; Director, Wharton PhD Program in Ethics and Legal Studies, 2002-2008

Corporate and Public Sector Leadership 2005-2009
Elected member of the National Adjudicatory Council of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA, formerly the NASD). Trustee, Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs; Chair, FTSE4Good US Committee; Addressed Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Anan, and the other Assistant Secretary Generals regarding the UN’s reform initiative, 2006

Representative Publications
“Dangerous Currents.” Directors & Boards, (Winter 2004).

"Defining the Value of Doing Good Business." Financial Times sec. Mastering Management: Corporate Governance, (June 2 2005).

(with T.W. Dunfee)
Ties that Bind: A Social Contract Approach to Business Ethics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Business School Press, 1999.

(with L. Preston)
"The Stakeholder Theory of the Corporation: Concepts, Evidence, Implication." Academy of Management Review (January 1995).