DePaul University’s Institute for Business and Professional Ethics (IBPE) will host an Abbott Fund Lecture on Jan. 20 featuring former Lehman Brothers Vice President Lawrence G. McDonald, author of the best-selling business book, "A Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers."

McDonald will discuss what happened behind the scenes during the downfall of the nation’s oldest investment bank and reflect on the future of the nation’s economy as it enters a new decade. The free, public event will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in Room 8005 of the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd.

Lehman Brothers sent shock waves through the financial industry and economy on Sept. 15, 2008, when it filed the largest bankruptcy in United States history. At the time McDonald was vice president of distressed debt and convertible securities trading, a position he had held since 2004. During his tenure McDonald was one of Lehman’s most consistently profitable traders, earning the Wall Street firm $83 million. McDonald also was part of a faction that foresaw, and helped the firm profit from, the subprime crisis in 2006, and was a member of the protest group within Lehman Brothers that passionately tried to stop it from heading down the road to destruction two years later, according to his book.

USA Today chose "Colossal Failure" as one of 2009’s "best business books for making sense of the financial crisis" through its insider’s look at "a venerable vessel run aground by executives with a reckless addiction to financial leverage and a simplistic grasp of structured finance."

Patricia Werhane, Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics and director of the IBPE, said "Lehman’s downfall provides a real-life lesson about the pitfalls of unethical behavior from which students of business as well as the public can learn great deal."

On his Web site, McDonald said: "My objective in writing ‘A Colossal Failure of Common Sense’ was twofold. First, to show Main Street how markets really work. Second, to provide a crystal clear explanation of why the fabled merchant bank, Lehman Brothers, met with such a swift and brutal end. The lessons are important, not just to warn of such disasters in the future, but ultimately to provide a beacon to help us serve Main Street better."

Founded in 1985 at DePaul’s College of Commerce, the IBPE is guided by a board drawn from Chicago’s corporate community. The institute fosters educational programs, public forums and research that explore and promote ethical practices in organizations. It sponsors ethics-related public programs throughout the year, including this lecture series sponsored by the Abbott Fund charity, and every third year hosts a conference on ethics teaching and training with DePaul, St. John’s and Niagara universities.

For reservations and information about McDonald’s talk, contact Summer Brown at the IBPE: sbrown15@depaul.edu or (312) 362-8786.