The Adrian College Institute for Leadership & Ethics conducts research on the latest leadership models and implements campus-wide programming and conferences for students, faculty, staff and the larger Adrian community. The institute develops programs, reading groups, and short conferences to help students identify and refine their unique leadership styles.
The Institute facilitates the exploration of leadership across diverse disciplines by enabling multiple departments to engage in leadership studies and education. The Business Department houses our successful interdisciplinary major and minor in Leadership Studies. Students across all divisions and majors are encouraged to tailor a complementary major or minor in Leadership that will help them understand and articulate their leadership style and strengths to potential employers.
“I integrate leadership education across various disciplines by recruiting faculty to teach in the major and minor. I regularly teach leadership courses in the Business Department, including an introduction to leadership, which surveys a variety of leadership models, from transformational to adaptive. These courses emphasize the importance of soft skills as the cornerstone of effective leadership. The introduction course is how we attract new majors and minors.” — Director, Melissa Stewart, PhD.
Upcoming event:
The Institute is in the planning stages for a student conference in Fall 2025 with Focus 3. Focus 3 is an advisory firm that provides consulting and training resources to help organizations develop their leaders, strengthen their culture, and empower their people. We believe that unnecessary complexity demotivates and derails the learning process. Therefore, our training tools are designed to be clear, engaging, and immediately actionable. Clients often tell us that the Focus 3 training experience is so impactful they share it with their family at home. This is one of the greatest compliments that we can receive.
Past events:
First annual Faculty Research Award Recipient Annual Lecture. At Adrian College’s opening convocation, September 2024, Professor Nathan Goetting won the annual faculty research award for his research on the Innocence Project. The Innocence Project was created in 1992 by visionary attorneys Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck. The Innocence Project has been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, using DNA and other scientific advancements to prove wrongful conviction.
Goetting won the CARS award for a presentation given at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, March 2024, titled “The Supreme Court’s Actual Innocence Problem,” based on an eight-article series he wrote for Discourse Magazine.
November 2024, in Jones 110, Professor Goetting gave a public lecture for both the Adrian College community and the greater Adrian township. The title of his work is “The Supreme Court’s Actual Innocence Problem.” The event was live streamed.
Debate, November 2023: “Can we Trust the Mainstream Media?” The program was free, and open to the public. The debaters were David Masci, Editor-in-Chief of Discourse Magazine; and Kate Mitchell, Adjunct Professor of Journalism, Adrian College.
Biographies of debaters: Kate Mitchell is an award-winning journalist with nearly a decade of experience working at daily newspapers. She holds a bachelor’s in journalism from Eastern Michigan University and has participated in almost every level of the news gathering and production process, from reporter to editor, page designer to columnist. She currently works in corporate communications and is an adjunct professor of journalism at Adrian College.
David Masci is Editor-in-Chief of Discourse Magazine at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Previously, he worked as a senior research fellow and senior editor at the Pew Research Center and as a staff writer at Congressional Quarterly. The event was live streamed.
The Institute for Leadership and Ethics announced a pizza and discussion series, hosted by Dr. James Spence, Professor of Ethics. Participants discussed the book Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals, by Frans de Waal. A Copy of the book was provided to those who registered by October 2024.
For more information, contact Director Melissa Stewart at mstewart@adrian.edu.
Director
Dr. Melissa Stewart
