Fellowships & Scholarships
Wicklander Fellowship
The Wicklander Fellowship is awarded annually to full-time DePaul faculty members who demonstrate an interest in applied or professional ethics as these topics relate to their particular field of research. Past fellows have included faculty from accountancy, law, management, philosophy, religious studies, political science, communication, public service management, and professional and continuing studies. We accept applications from faculty in any department at DePaul.
You may view the list of our Wicklander Fellow alumni here
Now Accepting Applications for 2026-2027
Applications are for the 2026-2027 cycle are due by May 15, 2026. Please email materials to Summer Brown at sbrown15@depaul.edu
Fellowship Overview
The fellowship pays the awardee a $5,000 stipend over the course of the academic year; a $2,000 summer stipend; and a professional development fund of $5,000 to cover travel, supplies, etc., that can be used over a two-year period. When possible, faculty are given a one-course teaching reduction during the year of the fellowship, which is up to the discretion of the awardee's department.
There is an expectation that the awardee will publish the research produced during the fellowship and submit the published work to IBPE once the article, book, book chapter, etc., has been sent out for publication. All applicants must include a line in the cover letter to indicate the understanding and confirmation to fulfill this publishing expectation.
Faculty receiving the award are expected to give the annual Wicklander lecture, usually scheduled in late May or early June.
How to Apply
Interested faculty should prepare a one- to three-page description of the proposed research project as it relates to applied or professional ethics, a letter from the chair or dean supporting the nomination, a cover letter (including the statement mentioned above) and a CV. Send the required documents to Summer Brown at sbrown15@depaul.edu. For further questions contact Summer Brown at (312) 362-8786 or by email.
Current Wicklander Fellows
Robert Steel | Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, School of Cinematic Arts
Robert Steel is a composer for cinema, theater, and other media. Recent credits include the films "Get the F**k Outta Paris" (Sound of Silent Film Festival Chicago and New York), "Eye Doctor of Death" (VR), "Hominidae" (Sundance Film Festival and Cannes)," Oh Baby!", "Junk Girl" (Sound of Silent Film Festival Mexico City), and "Edge of Alchemy" (Sound of Silent Film Festival Chicago) and the augmented reality installation "you have just been murdered" (New York). He is an Associate Professor at the School of Cinematic Arts at DePaul University where he is head of the sound design program and the CDM Sound Studios. He has been a mentor with the Sundance Collective Kitchen. His research is focused on virtual exchange and the nature of collaboration. Presentations on the research were delivered at the Audio Engineering Society (U.S and Germany), University Film and Video Association (U.S.), and the International Virtual Exchange Conference (U.S. and Spain). He is a recipient of the DePaul University Excellence in Teaching Award, numerous DePaul University grants, a Cue/Next grant (computing and the arts/NSF funded), Global Learning Experience Grants, and awards from ASCAP and the Illinois Arts Council.
Wicklander Fellowship Project: The Ethics of Virtual Exchange: Cultural Collaboration and Responsibility in Filmmaking
Heather Montes Ireland | College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, Department of Women's & Gender Studies
Heather Montes Ireland is an associate professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, with affiliations in the Department of Latin American and Latino/a Studies, the Critical Ethnic Studies Program, and the LGBTQ Studies Program. She is a scholar of gender, race, and political economy, with an emphasis in economic justice and women of color studies.
Wicklander Fellowship Project: "Work at Any Cost? Low-Income Mothers and The Ethics of 'Dignified' Work"
Previous Wicklander Fellows
- Robert Adler, The Theatre School, "Ethical Actor Training: A Case for Spolin Games" (2024-2025)
- Connie Johnston, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "The More-Than-Human City: The Ethics of Multi-Species Urban Planning and Design" (2024-2025)
- Jaejoon Woo, Driehaus College of Business, "Financial Crises, Inequalities, and Market Captialism" (2023-2024)
- Carolina Sternberg, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "How the role of feminist care ethics is helping to build more inclusive and just cities in the global south" (2022-2023)
- Patty Gerstenblith, College of Law, "Codes of ethics and other guidelines for professional conduct that pertain to archaeological artifacts among art market participants" (2021-2022)
- Rebecca Feinberg, College of Science and Health, College of Law, "Out of the Freezer and Into the Policy Fire: Ethical Quandaries in Gamete and Embryo Cryopreservation" (2020-2021)
- Heather Snyder Quinn, School of Design, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, "Legally trespassing: Using speculative design to imagine the future implications of the metaverse” (2020-2021)
- Michael Naas, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "The Day the World Stopped Working: Jacques Derrida, Jeremy Rifkin, and the Future of Work" (2020-2021)
- Grace Lemmon, Driehaus College of Business, "Weight-based Stigma at Work" (2019-2020)
- Joseph F. Mello, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "Pot for Profit: In Search of a Recipe for Responsible Reform" (2019-2020)
- Kathryn Grant, College of Science and Health, “Development of an Applied Ethics Research and Teaching Model in the Context of a University-Community Partnership (Cities Mentor Project)” (2018-2019)
- John Joe Schlichtman, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, “The Role of Ethics in Decisions Relating to Gentrification” (2018-2019)
- John Berdell, Driehaus College of Business, "The Transformation of Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments" (2017-2018)
- Jason Martin, College of Communication, "Professional Journalism Ethics in the Age of Mobile Media" (2017-2018)
- David Lay Williams, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "The Greatest of All Plagues: Economic Inequality in Western Political Thought" (2016-2017)
- María del Rosario Acosta López, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "From Trauma to History: Memory Building in Chicago’s Community Center for Survivors & Families of Police Torture" (2016-2017)
- Richard Farkus, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "The Search for an Ethical Response to 'Situational Corruption' in War-Torn Ukraine" (2015-2016)
- Mark Robinson, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, "The University of Pfizer: Science Medicine and the Ethics of Translation'" (2015-2016)
- Jonathan Gross, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "Bringing Poetry into the Public Schools: The 'Don Juan' Project and 'The Harlem Renaissance Remembered'" (2014-2015)
- Yuki Miyamoto, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "Neither Victims nor Executioners: Environmental Disaster and Citizens’ Responsibilities" (2014-2015)
- Michael Mezey, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "Congressional Ethics" (2013-2014)
- Bruce Newman, Driehaus College of Business, "The Mass Marketing of Politicians in the 2012 U.S. Presidential Campaign: Some Ethical Considerations" (2012-2013)
- Arieahn Matamanosa-Bennett, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, "Ethics and Animal Assisted Therapies: Putting the Horse Before Descartes" (2012-2013)
- Leah Bryant, College of Communication, "Beginning in Families and Continuing in the Classroom: Students' Perceptions of (Un)Ethical Academic Work" (2011-2012)
- Donald Hermann, College of Law, "Law and Morality" (2011-2012)
- Andrea Lyon, College of Law, "The Influence of the Media in High-Profile Death Penalty Trial" (2010-2011)
- Scott Erlinder, School of Cinema and Interactive Media, "Ethics in Action: Media Ethics" (2010-2011)
- Bel Needles, Driehaus College of Business, "A Conceptual Framework of Ethical Financial Reporting" (2010-2011)
- Susan Bandes, College of Law, "Emotion and the Law" (2009-2010)
- Tom Muscarello, Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media, "Bioethics: Impact of Massive Data Repositories on Informed Consent in Genomic Studies" (2009-2010)
- Scott Paeth, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "War and Moral Discernment" (2008-2009)
- Kathy Dhanda, Driehaus College of Business, "The Market for Carbon Offsets: Being Green or Paying to Pollute?" (2008-2009)
- Jason Hill, College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences, "Toward a Cosmopolitan Business Ethics" (2007-2008)
- Kelly Pope, Driehaus College of Business, "The Effect of Anonymous Reporting Channels and Incentive-Suggestion Programs on Intentions to Whistle-Blow" (2007-2008)
- Patrick Murphy, Driehaus College of Business, "Social Entrepreneurship" (2006-2007)
- Helen LaVan, Driehaus College of Business, "Disciplining Employees for Free Speech, Whistle Blowing, and Political Activities" (2005-2006)
- Robert Rubin, Driehaus College of Business, "Antecedents and Outcomes of Ethical Leader Behavior"(2004-2005)
Patricia H. Werhane Business Ethics Scholarship
Patricia H. Werhane Business Ethics Scholarship
About the Werhane Scholarship
Through the generous gifts from Professor Emerita Patricia H. Werhane and many of her colleagues, the Patricia H. Werhane Business Ethics Scholarship awards an annual scholarship of approximately $2,400 to a DePaul University student. The student must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and must also either be an undergraduate student with a business major (any discipline in the Driehaus College of Business) and a philosophy minor, OR a philosophy major and business minor. Students in other disciplines that meet the business objective, are also considered. We hope to provide this award to well-rounded and engaged students.
Congratulations to the 2023-24 Werhane Scholarship recipient, Gabrielle Dacuycuy. Gabrielle is a Film and TV Major, with a minor in Philosophy.
If you have any questions about the scholarship, email Summer Brown at sbrown15@depaul.edu.
Previous Werhane Scholarship Recipients
2022-23: Melynna Hakim Arreola-Quiroga, Double Major - Accountancy and Finance (Minor: Philosophy)
2021-22: Joseph Mertes, Philosophy Major (Minor: Business Administration)
2020-21: Isabella Datillo, Business Major (Minor: Bioethics)
2019-20: Riley O'Neil, Finance Major (Minor: Philosophy)
2018-19: Grace Baffoe, Philosophy Major (Minor: Hospitality Leadership)
About Patricia H. Werhane
Patricia H. Werhane About Patricia H. Werhane
Professor Emerita Patricia H. Werhane is a world-renowned business ethicist and former Wicklander Chair of Business Ethics and foemer managing director of the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University, as well as Ruffin Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia. She has been a Rockefeller Fellow at Dartmouth College and visiting professor at Cambridge University. Werhane has published numerous articles and is the author or editor of more than 25 books, including "Adam Smith and his Legacy for Modern Capitalism" and "Moral Imagination and Management Decision-Making," both published by Oxford University Press; "Women in Business," with Posig, Gundry, Powell and Ofstein; and "Profitable Partnerships for Poverty Alleviation," with L. Hartman, D. Moberg and S. Kelley.
Werhane is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Business Ethics Quarterly, the journal of the Society for Business Ethics; former president of the International Society for Business, Economics and Ethics, and is an academic advisor to the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics. She is currently the co-producer of a documentary television series, “Big Questions,” which explores global projects for poverty alleviation, social enterprise and education.
Senior Wicklander Fellow Curtis C. Verschoor
The late Curtis C. Verschoor, CMA, CPA, was an honorary senior Wicklander research fellow in the Institute for Business and Professional Ethics at DePaul University. He was also a research scholar in the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley University, and chair-emeritus of the Institute of Management Accountants' Committee on Ethics. Verschoor wrote the article, "Do the Right Thing: IMA Updates Ethics Guidance," in the July 2017 issue of Strategic Finance magazine.
In October 2017, the Institute of Management Accountants, the association of accountants and financial professionals in business, released Verschoor's book, “Curt Verschoor On Ethics – Timely Columns from Strategic Finance Magazine.” The book provides management accounting and finance professionals with real-world, proven insights on key business ethics topics and serves as a guide to improve professional judgment, model ethical behavior, and assist with ensuring integrity and ethical decision making in business.