Leighton Lecture on Ethics and Leadership

Made possible through a generous contribution by alumni Richard (Dick) and Grace Leighton, the annual Leighton Lecture on Ethics and Leadership is the signature event hosted by the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society. This event provides an important opportunity for our students and faculty, along with other campus and community members, to hear distinguished perspectives on the critical nature of ethics and leadership in today’s world.

2024: Gretchen Winter | Clinical Assistant Professor, Gies College of Business

Gretchen A. Winter, JD is a clinical assistant professor of business administration who teaches business law, business ethics, and professional responsibility at Gies College of Business and the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her current research and curriculum development projects involve conducting video interviews with academic and practitioner “Business Ethics Pioneers” that are now part of the University Library Archives and using the interviews to develop edited transcripts for publications, video clips for classroom use, and case studies for the classroom. 

Winter joined the University of Illinois in 2007 as the first full-time executive director of the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society. She received a Dean’s Impact Award in recognition of her contributions to the College, including her role in the development of the Center as well as the award-winning Business 101 ethics and professional responsibility course and the Auditor Independence Education Materials.

2023: Zackary Starbird | Global Head, Ethics & Compliance for Trading & Shipping, bp

Zackary Starbird is the Global Head of Ethics & Compliance for Trading & Shipping at bp. Previously he was the assistant general counsel responsible for bp's Americas-based commodities trading businesses. For the past 20 years he has been in and around commodities trading environments, providing legal support on a full array of commercial, regulatory, litigation, and bankruptcy issues.

In 2017, he worked in a commercial role as the distillates trading manager for bp in the Americas. In that role, he worked to enable commercial opportunities for the team that was trading jet, diesel, and heating oil. He also helped to ensure that trading occurred in a controlled and compliant manner.

Before coming to BP Zack worked in senior legal roles supporting the trading businesses of Koch Industries and Mirant Corp. Outside of work, Zack is a proud father of three and an avid reader and basketball player. READ ARTICLE

2022: Sylvia Puente | President, CEO of Latino Policy Forum

Sylvia Puente is the President and CEO of the Latino Policy Forum, a nonprofit that works for equity, justice, and economic prosperity on behalf of Latinos in Chicago and Illinois. The Forum conducts public-policy analysis and advocacy on issues including education, housing, and immigration. Over more than a decade at the helm of the Forum, Puente has grown the organization into a central voice on Latino issues and has established herself as a thought leader in the arena.

Sylvia was selected for Governor Pritzker’s transition team as part of the Educational Success Committee, and she also serves on the Illinois Early Learning Council. She received Mexico’s highest recognition of those serving the Mexican community outside of the country, and received an honorary PhD for her social justice work from Roosevelt University in 2021. She has been recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential Hispanics in the U.S.” READ ARTICLE

2021: Larry Gies | Founder & CEO, Madison Industries

Larry Gies is the Founder and CEO of Madison Industries, one of the largest and most successful privately held companies in the world. Madison has built market leaders in the filtration, medical, safety, rescue & firefighting equipment, heat transfer, industrial equipment, process improvement, instruments & controls, advertising, service outsourcing, and indoor air quality industries with combined revenues in excess of $10 billion.

In 2017, Larry and his wife Beth pledged $150 million to the College. That gift helps support Gies College of Business' mission of being the most innovative business school on the planet and delivering life-changing business education. Larry serves as the President of The Gies Foundation (which focuses on democratizing education and enhancing health) and is a featured speaker at several universities. He was instrumental in establishing The Gies Campus of Chicago Jesuit Academy (a full scholarship school for 3^rd – 8^th grade boys and girls on Chicago’s West Side). He serves on the boards of Northwestern University, Amsted Industries, 2016-2022 (one of the largest ESOP’s in the United States) and the Accelerate Institute (which is solving for the ‘achievement gap’ in United States education). He holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Northwestern University. READ ARTICLE

2020: Harry Kraemer, Jr. | Executive Partner, Madison Dearborn Partners

Harry Kraemer is an executive partner with Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago and a clinical professor of management and strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

Before becoming a professor and author, Harry was the former chairman and chief executive officer of Baxter International Inc., a $12 billion global healthcare company. His 23-year career at Baxter began with an accounting job and included senior positions in a range of domestic and international operations. He became Baxter's chief executive officer in January 1999, and he assumed the additional responsibility of chairman of Baxter's board of directors in January 2000. READ ARTICLE