Nov. 12, 2013
Grant to Fund Four Visiting Scholars is First Step in $6.5 Million Initiative
The Catholic University of America has received a commitment of $1 million from the Charles Koch Foundation and $500,000 from the Busch Family Foundation to support research into the role principled entrepreneurship can and should play in improving society's well-being.
The grant will enable the University's School of Business and Economics to recruit and hire three visiting scholars from academia and one visiting scholar-practitioner from the business world.
The three visiting professors from academia will conduct research on principled entrepreneurship. They and the scholar-practitioner will have opportunities to teach in the school. One of the appointments - a research professorship - will be for three years; the other appointments will be for one year.
CUA's School of Business and Economics has a goal of raising an additional $5 million to enable the school to add additional visiting positions and to extend the length of the program.
"This grant is a significant boost to our new school and will greatly support our efforts to integrate virtue into our research and teaching," said Andrew Abela, who was appointed dean shortly after the business and economics school was established in early January this year (previously it had been a department).
"The vision for our school is to be truly person-centered. In pursuit of that goal it is imperative for us to conduct research oriented to the common good and to focus on understanding how business and economics become more effective when they are more humane. That's the enterprise in which these visiting scholars will engage during their time with us," Abela said.
The Charles Koch Foundation supports research and higher education programs aimed at improving understanding of how economic freedom advances human well-being. The Busch Family Foundation was founded by Timothy R. Busch and his wife, Steph. Timothy Busch is a member of The Catholic University of America's Board of Trustees and chairman of the board of the Napa Institute.
"CUA's scholars are international leaders in teaching and studying business and economics with a focus on improving lives, especially for the least fortunate," said Richard Fink, president of the Charles Koch Foundation. "We look forward to the contributions CUA will make to this research field and to improving our understanding of how to advance human well-being."
"Catholic University is well-positioned to reach business leaders as well as scholars," Busch said. "I am excited about the potential impact of the University's research to advance principled entrepreneurship in society."
The mission of The Catholic University of America School of Business and Economics is to provide intellectual leadership in business and economics through practical and theoretical education and scholarship, inspired by the Catholic principles of human dignity, solidarity, subsidiarity and the common good, in support of the mission of the University. It is one of 12 schools at the University, which was founded in 1887 as a graduate research institution.
MEDIA: For more information, contact Katie Lee or Mary McCarthy Hines in the Office of Public Affairs at 202-319-5600 or cua-public-affairs@cua.edu.