Grand Valley celebrates naming of Koeze Business Ethics Initiative

A reception to celebrate the newly named Koeze Business Ethics Initiative (KBEI) in the Seidman College of Business was held September 8 at the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. Members of the Koeze family are longtime supporters of the university.

Generous support from Ruth Koeze helped establish the initiative, and generous support from Jeff and Kate Koeze will benefit the operation of the initiative. Jeff also serves on the advisory board for KBEI.

“The Koeze family is one of our founding families and has long been a part of Grand Valley’s success,” said President Thomas J. Haas. “The pursuit of understanding ethical practices is vital for our students today, and has always been a critical part of the liberal education tradition here at Grand Valley. We are grateful to Ruth, Jeff and Kate for leading this initiative into the future.”

The KBEI’s mission is to be a leading resource for business persons, students and faculty who seek to understand the relationship between business, the common good and a life well lived.

Michael DeWilde, director of KBEI, said: “Jeff Koeze has played a major role in helping Seidman highlight the importance of ethics for the community and for students. In the late 1990s he worked with management professor Barry Castro in establishing a series of roundtable discussions that brought together business owners and professionals on questions concerning values and ethics in West Michigan businesses. He continued his involvement when I took over in 2008 and has been an invaluable friend and colleague as we have discussed the expansion of those conversations into what is now the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative.”

DeWilde said support from the Koeze family makes it possible to pursue additional projects, including a collaboration with several scholars at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan on the nature and sustainability of social capital, research on how behavioral ethics can be taught, and how business considerations intersect with end-of-life ethics.  

The Koeze Business Ethics Initiative is available to all students and faculty, offering resources for the study of ethics in various disciplines and professions.

For more about the Koeze Business Ethics Initiative visit www.gvsu.edu/business/ethics.