By Jessica Kisling —

The University of Louisville College of Business will be giving five grants of $5,000 to further research and develop instructional tools to be used in the community.

The Project on Ethical Leadership Excellence started in 2018 with the original donation of $100,000 by Vince Tyra, the director of athletics at U of L. It is projected to last for 20 years. 

Since then, Adidas and the the university’s athletic department have agreed to donate $1,000,000 over the span of a decade to further aid the program. The Sam and Bonnie Rechter Family Trust donated the funds for these grants. 

Through this project the College of Business and athletic department hope to encourage more ethical leadership and research. Associate professor of management and co-head of the project Ryan Quinn said, “Positive and ethical leadership is leadership in which people are not just refraining from doing harm to the world, but actually making it better, and making their lives more meaningful in the process.”  

The tools developed will affect the ethical training in the athletic department, and the research addresses the moral and positive psychology that goes into athletics at U of L. 

Both Quinn and the university want this project, and these grants in particular, to help create a reputation for U of L and the College of Business as being about positive and ethical leadership. The training and research developed will eventually be shared with other colleges in the ACC, as well as other nonprofit and corporate arenas.

The project is open to both students of the university and the community. Applications are due on Oct. 15 and must include a brief explanation of the proposal along with a timeline and why it will promote ethical leadership. All proposals should be emailed to Quinn. The recipients of the grants will be announced on Nov. 15 and will begin on Jan. 1, 2020. 

Of the five recipients chosen, two will be for research and three for the tools development. More information about the application process can be found on the U of L School of Business’s website, and any questions can be directed to Quinn at [email protected].

File Photo / The Louisville Cardinal