1/19/01

Bob Lowry, 334/844-9999

EXPERT ON ORGANIZATION, ETHICS TO LECTURE AT AUBURN

AUBURN -- Roger Boisjoly, who had a distinguished career in the aerospace industry, will lecture on organizational behavior and ethics during a three-day conference starting Tuesday (Jan. 23) in Auburn University's College of Business.

All of the lectures and meetings will be in the Lowder Business Building.

The conference was arranged by Achilles Armenakis, the Pursell Eminent Scholar of Business Ethics at AU.

Boisjoly's visit is part of Armenakis' plan -- aided by the endowment of Sylacauga businessman James T. Pursell Sr. and his family -- to expose business school students to ethical management practices.

"Ethics is one of the basic building blocks in decision making," said Armenakis. "We feel fortunate to have Roger Boisjoly discuss with our students and faculty the role ethics plays not only in making decisions but also in the management of enterprises."

Armenakis says Auburn business students participate in lectures and small class discussions augmented with videos and management cases dealing with ethical issues.

Boisjoly will begin his visit by addressing a Quality Management class on Tuesday at 8 a.m., in the Lowder Business Building, Room 153. At 1 p.m., he will meet with doctoral students in Room 402.

The Wednesday schedule includes:

	** 8 a.m. Principles of Management, Room 113-A.
	** 10 a.m. Principles of Management, Room 113-A
	** noon Organizational Behavior, Room 124
	** 2 p.m. Project Management, Room 009
	** 3:30 p.m. Human Resources, Room 009

The Thursday schedule is:

	** 11 a.m. Organizational Behavior, Room 124
	** 2 p.m. Organizational Behavior, Room 124

Boisjoly had a 27-year career in the U.S. aerospace industry, working primarily in mechanical design and structural analysis.

His final assignment was as technical troubleshooter on the Space Shuttle rocket boosters. Boisjoly recommended and defended the original no- launch decision of Challenger in January 1986. This decision and the disaster was summarized in the acclaimed video titled "Groupthink." His testimony during the investigation of the Challenger disaster was vital in explaining the decision by Morton-Thiokol and NASA managers to launch Challenger.

Boisjoly received the 1987 Presidential Award from the National Space Society for Professional Integrity and Personal Courage and the 1990 Engineering Ethics Award from the National Academy of Forensic Engineers. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He is a frequent lecturer at universities throughout the world lecturing on topics such as organizational behavior and ethics.

jan01:AU-ethics

CONTACT: Armenakis, 334/844-6506.