Robert Bobb, the emergency finance chief of Detroit Public Schools, will be the keynote speaker for the Ethos Week at Eastern Michigan’s College of Business.
Bobb’s credentials include 30 years of executive management experience in private and public sectors.
He is currently the owner, president and CEO of the LAPA Group, LLC, a private and public sector consulting firm.
Bobb previously served as the president of the Washington, D.C. Board of Education and as the District of Columbia’s Homeland Security advisor.
Ethos Week will take place March 15-19.
EMU’s Ethos Week was the first event of its kind offered at any business school in the country. The Dean’s Board of Student Advisors created the original concept and events in 2007.
According to the College of Business’s Web site, the event is designed to “promote business ethics and to further ethics education.”
This year will be the fourth for the annual event.
David Mielke, dean of the College of Business, selected Bobb to be the keynote speaker based on what he’s doing with the DPS school system.
“You’ve heard nothing but negative about Detroit and the ability to turn things around, but that hasn’t deterred him from taking on the challenge,” Mielke said. “To me, he’s been taking it on in a very positive ethical manner.”
Mielke believes EMU students can relate to Bobb.
“He really demonstrates in practice, the six values of our Ethos Statement,” Mielke said. “He seems to be an excellent model for our students in terms of his willingness to take on a very difficult task and also to have a very high emphasis on honesty and integrity.”
Tickets for the luncheon will be $5 for students and all proceeds will go toward three charities. For more information about the upcoming Ethos Week, visit www.cob.emich.edu.
