James R. Freeland
Sponsors Professor of Business Administration
R. Edward Freeman
University Professor and Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration; Academic Director, Institute for Business in Society; Academic Director, Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics
Why this course
The U.S. and many other countries face a trio of inequalities: income, wealth, and opportunity. While income inequality is a well-accepted result of a capitalist economy, the degree of inequality has been steadily increasing since 1979. Many including Nobel Prize winning economists Robert Schiller and Joseph Stiglitz and successful business persons like Paul Tudor Jones and Elon Musk suggest that economic inequality is the defining challenge of our time. There is evidence that technological innovation will increase the level of economic inequality even more in the near future. Some believe this may threaten capitalism and democracy. This seminar explores economic inequality and social mobility from different points of view.
Biography
Sponsors Professor of Business Administration James R. Freeland teaches in the Technology and Operations area at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. He is involved in the required teaching programs in the MBA Full Time program and EMBA. He joined the Darden Faculty in 1979. From 1993-2012 he served in the Dean's Office as Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research where he was chief strategist for faculty and research matters. Major accomplishments during his 19 years in the Dean's Office include hiring over 61 new faculty, increasing the diversity of the Darden faculty substantially, having Darden consistently rated as the best teaching faculty, significantly increasing the research productivity, and promoting evidence-based decision making to create a climate of equity and transparency for the faculty.
R. Edward Freeman is University Professor and Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business.
Freeman has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Washington University and a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke University. He has been bestowed with honorary doctorate degrees (Doctor Honoris Causa) from the University of Sherbrooke in Canada in 2016, Hanken School of Economics in Finland in 2014, Radbord University in the Netherlands in 2013, and Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Spain in 2008 for his work on stakeholder theory and business ethics. He was also awarded the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany during the Sixth International Conference on Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility (CSR).
Mr. Freeman is a lifelong student of philosophy, martial arts, and the blues. He is a co-principal in Red Goat Records, LLC found at redgoatrecords.com. For more information, go to www.REdwardfreeman.com
Highlights
The 20 Most ‘Deeply Optimistic’ MBA Courses - Poets & Quants
