WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Feb. 28, 2017 — West Liberty University’s Dr. Thomas Michaud was invited to serve as a judge for the 2017 Pittsburgh Business Ethics Award (PBEA) recently. The award ceremony took place on February 22 at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh and was attended by more than 350 professionals.
“It was an honor to be asked to serve as a judge. This is not only a prestigious award, it shows how fully committed to ethical commerce so many companies are. As a business ethicist I was encouraged that ethics has become such an essential and prominent feature of these Pittsburgh-area companies’ operations,” said Dr. Michaud, who was one of three judges.
The business winners were: Michael Baker International (large company category), the Kurt J. Lesker Company (medium company category) and Synergy Company (small company category). There were nine finalists, three in each category size.
Greg Felton, 2017 PBEA chairman and sales director for the National Slovak Society Insurance, believes that “ethics are at the core of our very existence. PBEA aims to recognize companies that embody this belief in what they do every day.”
“We believe that all of the finalists are winners, even though only one company in each category will take home the trophy, because it reflects the ethics commitment of these businesses,” Felton said. The recent event was the 16th annual awards ceremony.
Felton continued that the PBEA is “pleased to have Dr. Michaud as a judge because of his experience and distinction in the field of business ethics. Michaud’s participation helps to strengthen the judging process.”
Michaud is dean of the School of Professional Studies, located at the West Liberty University Highlands Center campus. He teaches leadership and ethics in the Bachelor of Leadership and Administration (BLA) and the Master of Professional Studies – Organizational Leadership (MPS-OL) programs at the Highlands.
Over the past 30 years, thousands of participants have attended Michaud’s seminars and training programs in leadership and ethics, which have been presented at major corporations, non-profit organizations, professional associations, civic groups, government agencies, and Duke University’s MBA program.
For 10 years, Michaud wrote a monthly column on business ethics for The State Journal, West Virginia’s weekly business newspaper. He also has published a custom course text, The Virtues of Business Ethics (Copley Custom Academic Publishing, 3rd Edition, 2010).
Principal Sponsor of the 2017 award ceremony is the Pittsburgh Chapter Financial Services Professionals. Co-Sponsors include: the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership at the University of Pittsburgh and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.
Finalists for the ethics awards were chosen through nomination and overall reputation. Finalists were evaluated on such criteria as demonstration of executive commitment to business ethics, clear communication of ethical standards to employees, consistently high quality products and services, and a commitment to community and charitable involvement. For more information, visit pittsburghbusinessethicsawards.com.