News Releases

International expert on transparency and accountability to speak at KU

Peter Eigen, of Transparency International, will present the 2007 Sutton Ethics Lecture.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

LAWRENCE — Peter Eigen, founder and chairman of the Advisory Council of Transparency International, will speak at the 2007 Walter S. Sutton Ethics Lecture. Eigen has made it his life-work to push for more transparency and accountability in international development.

Eigen's lecture, titled "Corruption in a Globalized Economy - The Role of Civil Society Organizations to Improve Governance," will take place at 5 p.m. Friday, April 27, at the Spencer Museum of Art. The lecture is free to the public. The Sutton Lecture is sponsored by the KU International Center for Ethics in Business and the KU School of Business and is made possible by a gift in 1993 from Betsey G. Sutton in memory of her husband, Walter Sutton.

Eigen has worked in economic development for 25 years, primarily as a World Bank manager of programs in Africa and Latin America. In those capacities he analyzed economic conditions, coordinated sources of financing and development, and managed work programs.

Through two Ford Foundation sponsorships, Eigen provided technical and legal support for the governments of Botswana and Namibia in 1973 and 1991, respectively. In both instances he provided policy advice for economic development and offered expertise in international negotiations, including mining and water projects, taxation, and currency and trade.

Eigen has also served in several academic positions throughout his career. He taught law at the universities of Frankfort and Georgetown. From 1999 to 2001 he served as an Adjunct Lecturer at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He still teaches in the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University. In 1992, Eigen became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Transparency International, headquartered in Berlin. Transparency International supports National Chapters in more than 90 countries.

He founded the Advisory Council of Transparency International in 2005 and still serves as the Chairman.

Eigen attended graduate school at The University of Kansas on a Fulbright Fellowship from 1962 to 1963. He studied political science and economics. Two years later he earned a doctorate degree from the University of Frankfurt.

In 2004 Eigen received the Readers Digest European of the Year Award. In addition, under his leadership, Transparency International was awarded the Freedom Award by the Max Schmidheiny Foundation in Switzerland in 1999.

The KU International Center for Ethics in Business is a cooperative effort of the School of Business and the College of Liberal Arts. The Center's purpose is to promote individual and corporate integrity in both U.S. and international business through research, service, education in ethical principles and behavior. Co-directors are Douglas May, professor of business, and Richard T. DeGeorge, distinguished professor of philosophy.

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