Maxwell School announces new lecture series on ethics, citizenship and public responsibility

Senator Bill Bradley to be inaugural speaker on April 10

What does it mean to be an ethical citizen? What does the need for public responsibility demand from us, whether we work in the private or the public sectors, and whether we are entry-level employees or top leaders? The Tanner Lecture Series on Ethics, Citizenship, and Public Responsibility at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University will provide a public forum for exploring these questions in provocative and challenging ways.

Speakers in the annual lecture series will be leaders in their fields who have wrestled with these questions and demonstrated—through their life and work—that generative efforts can enrich both our private and public lives. Collectively, the lectures aim to stimulate audiences to re-envision their own responsibilities in different and, at times, deliberately unsettling ways—not merely to inform, but to engage and provoke, and to leave a lasting impression that influences future behavior. In this way, the Tanner Lectures seek to expand horizons and spark new conversations about the problems and opportunities we collectively face as citizens of nations and of the world.

The series has been generously endowed by W. Lynn Tanner, founder, CEO and chairman of TEC Canada, a leadership development organization dedicated to accelerating the growth and development of outstanding 21st-century leaders. Tanner received a Ph.D. from the Maxwell School in 1975, where his studies focused on organizational change and development in the public and private sectors.

The first speaker in the series is long-time public servant Sen. Bill Bradley. As a leading voice for civic engagement and public responsibility, Bradley represents an ideal choice for the inaugural lecture. Currently a managing director of Allen & Co. LLC, Bradley represented New Jersey in the U.S. Senate from 1979-1997, and in 2000 was a candidate for U.S. president. Prior to serving in the Senate, Bradley was an Olympic gold medalist and a professional basketball player for the New York Knicks; he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982. He is the author of six books on American politics, culture and the economy, including the forthcoming “We Can All Do Better,” and the host of “American Voices,” a weekly show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio that highlights the remarkable accomplishments of Americans, both famous and unknown. Bradley earned a bachelor’s degree in American history from Princeton University and a master’s degree from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.

More information on the April 10 event will be forthcoming.