Gubernatorial candidate Reich to join forum on ethics in a crisis economy

The power of ethics in a crisis economy will be the subject on Tuesday, March 5, when gubernatorial candidate Robert Reich joins David Ellis, president and director of the Museum of Science, and Linda Whitlock, president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, for the 2002 Wheaton Distinguished Fellows Forum. The panel discussion will be moderated by Thomas Hollister, president and CEO of Citizens Bank and a trustee of Wheaton.

"For the Public Good: The Power of Ethics in a Crisis Economy" is the title of this year's forum, which will be held in the Hindle Auditorium at the college's Science Center on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.. The event is free of charge and is open to all.

The Wheaton Distinguished Fellows Forum is the capstone event of the Wheaton Distinguished Fellows Program, an important initiative that brings outstanding leaders from the Boston area to the college campus. The program seeks to expose students to the perspectives of top officers of leading businesses and organizations for insight into how academic disciplines are applied in the fields of business, human services, science, government, law, medicine and the arts.

This year's Wheaton Distinguished Fellows bring a rich array of leadership experience to the Wheaton campus as well as backgrounds in education. Before assuming leadership of the Museum of Science, David Ellis pursued a distinguished career in academia. He served as president of Lafayette College in Easton, Penn., for 12 years. He began his professional life in higher education as a chemistry professor at the University of New Hampshire, where he progressed through a number of administrative positions eventually serving as the university's chief academic officer for 16 years. Ellis earned his undergraduate degree at Haverford College and received his Ph.D. in chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Now a candidate to win the Democratic nomination for governor, Robert Reich is a former U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving in the first Clinton administration, and was an assistant to the Solicitor General in the Ford administration. He is the author of seven books, including Locked in the Cabinet, an account of his time on the Clinton cabinet. Reich is a professor of social and economic policy at Brandeis University and its Heller Graduate School. Before his service as secretary of labor, he was on the faculty of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Reich earned his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth, attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and received his law degree from Yale.

An experienced educator and administrator, Linda Whitlock has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University and the University of Michigan and served in the administrations of governors Dukakis and King. She also help positions as a senior administrator and faculty member at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School and Concord Academy. Whitlock received her undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke and earned her masters degree at the University of Michigan.
Past Wheaton Distinguished Fellows include Jerry Schubel, president of the New England Aquarium; William Crozier Jr., chairman emeritus of BankBoston; The Honorable Margaret Marshall, chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts; Kenneth Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp and Liz Walker, anchor and reporter for WBZ-TV Channel 4.