Harvard Business School

Donald David was the first HBS dean who held a high executive position in industry before assuming the deanship. He had strong opinions about the role of ethics in business — and the role of HBS in preparing students for ethical leadership.

“In a number of discussions I have had with faculty members and businessmen,” he wrote in 1947, “the words ‘integrity,’ ‘trustworthiness,’ ‘reliability,’ ‘objectivity,’ and ‘courage’ have emerged again and again as central concepts. There is no doubt of the deep concern, almost a ferment, in the minds of many regarding the moral and ethical foundations of our industrial civilization. It is to be hoped that the School, working together with business, can finds the means of giving steadfast encouragement to the growth of a high sense of personal and intellectualintegrity in business.”