On March 26, 2007, Dr. George Ellard, a partner at the well-known Washington, D.C., law firm of Baach, Robinson & Lewis spoke to a full house on a topic that has scorched at the fabric of modern society business-related fraud. This was part of the Smith Schools Business Ethics Lecture Series to foster the idea of integrity among students.

Smith students had the opportunity to hear from an expert in the field of ethics in advertising Wednesday, November 08, 2006. Lesley Fair, senior attorney at the Federal Trade Commissions Bureau of Consumer Protection, gave a talk titled, The Truth About False Advertising: Why Ethical Marketing Isn't an Oxymoron. Fair introduced her discussion by giving examples of consumer behavior in response to false advertising. When a company receives a complaint letter there are an average of nine people who know about that complaint, according to some studies, she said.

Robert Colson, partner at Grant Thornton LLP, spoke to an auditorium of accounting students at the Robert H. Smith School of Business on Thursday, October 24 about the business of ethics and morality. He was the second speaker in the Business Ethics Lecture Series held at Smith. An accountant by day, Colsons interests range from ecology to fly fishing. His work experience spans several decades and includes stints in academia, the nonprofit world, and multinational corporations.

On Wednesday, October 4, the Robert H. Smith School of Business welcomed Teresa Iannaconi, a partner at KPMG, to its Business Ethics Lecture Series. Iannaconi, MBA , spoke to a room filled with students on the topic of The Pursuit of a Model Ethics and Compliance Program for a Registered Public Accounting Firm.

The Business Ethics Lecture Series, sponsored by the Smith School, hosted its final speaker, Mark H. Taylor, on April 19. Taylor, who holds the John P. Begley Endowed Chair in Accounting at Creighton University, has a PhD and a CPA and is an Academic Fellow in the Office of the Chief Accountant at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In his hour-long talk, Taylor focused on the state of the accounting profession, occupational fraud, financial statement fraud, the psychology of fraud, and finally the role of the SEC.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business kicked off its Business Ethics Lecture Series on October 6, with a riveting talk on white-collar crime and living on the ethical edge delivered by guest lecturers Alfred and Joan Porro. The Porros spoke of the personal and professional upheaval caused in their lives after they were sentenced to more than 45 months in prison for white-collar crimes. They held an audience of university undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff spellbound as they openly shared their experiences and lessons learned.