DePaul Students Learn Firsthand In Course That Gives Them Access to Top Business Leaders

What are the management styles of real estate and media mogul Sam Zell, Chicago Mercantile Exchange Chair Terry Duffy, Levy Restaurants CEO Andy Lansing, U.S. Appeals Court Judge Richard A. Posner and Art Institute of Chicago Director James Cuno? How do they handle ethical issues within their organizations?

An innovative course, “Ethics and Leadership,” taught by Management Professor Laura Hartman gives DePaul business students rare direct access to top Chicago executives and other leaders to ask these questions. The off-the-record conversations provide students with firsthand insights into real-life leadership issues.

Seventeen students spent over an hour discussing a variety of management issues with Zell, Tribune Co. CEO and chairman of Equity Group Investments, during a May meeting at the billionaire’s Loop office.

In addition to Zell, Duffy, Lansing, Posner and Cuno, the group will have met with Gary Johnson, president of the Chicago History Museum; Deborah DeHaas, Midwest managing partner, Deloitte & Touche; Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr., executive partner, Madison Dearborn Partners LLC; Gloria Santona, general counsel, McDonald’s Corp.; as well as the Rev. Dennis H. Holtschneider, C.M., DePaul’s president, by the end of the class in June.

“Students explore the tools that these leaders use to respond to management issues,” said Hartman, who teaches the class with Management Chair Scott Young. “By the end of the course, students will have enough in their tool boxes to effectively to respond to ethical dilemmas as future leaders in the business world.”

Editors’ Note: To obtain photos of the students’ visit with Sam Zell, contact Robin Florzak, DePaul Media Relations, 312/362-8592 or rflorzak@depaul.edu