About Kirk

Kirk O. Hanson stepped down recently as Executive Director of Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, one of the leading global centers for the study of applied ethics, where he held the John Courtney Murray, S.J. University Professorship in Social Ethics for 17 years.  Previously Kirk taught business ethics at the Stanford Business School for 23 years and is recognized as one of the founders of the academic field of business ethics.  He has been an emeritus faculty member at Stanford since 2001.  

Hanson writes and has published widely on managing the ethical and public behavior of corporations and their leaders.   His current research interests include the design of corporate ethics programs and the responsibilities of boards for the ethical culture of organizations.  Hanson has consulted with more than 125 corporations, nonprofit organizations, health care entitles, and government bodies on the design of ethics programs and the resolution of ethical dilemmas.  

Hanson was the founding president of The Business Enterprise Trust, a national organization created by leaders in business, labor, media, and academia to honor exemplary behavior in business.  He was the Honorary Chair of the first business ethics center in China and the first Chair of the Santa Clara County Political Ethics Commission in Silicon Valley. He currently serves on several foundation and non-profit boards, has been honored by the Aspen Institute’s Center for Business Education and the American Leadership Foundation Silicon Valley, and has received honorary doctorates from Santa Clara University and the University of Portland for his work on business responsibility.