Sonu Bedi Named Director of Ethics Institute at Dartmouth

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The associate professor of government will lead the expansion of the institute鈥檚 academic programming.

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Sonu Bendi
Associate 天美影视 of Government Sonu Bedi, who became director of the Ethics Institute in March, will continue to teach classes while leading the institute. (Photo by Eli Burakian 鈥00) 
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Associate 天美影视 of Government has been named the inaugural Hans 鈥80 and Kate Morris Director of the Ethics Institute.

Bedi has taken the helm of the as it seeks to enhance its intellectual presence on campus and across higher education by increasing engagement with faculty and students who are exploring important intellectual questions about emerging ethical issues.

Bedi, who began his role as director on March 15, will lead the expansion of the institute鈥檚 academic programming, oversee the ethics minor, and work closely with Executive Director Aine Donovan on programming and academic coordination. Donovan will continue her work at the institute, supporting student programs and outreach to the professional schools.

鈥淚 look forward to creating new opportunities for faculty and students to engage in the rich intellectual community of scholars, both here at Dartmouth and elsewhere, working on questions of ethics in society,鈥 says Bedi, who will continue to teach while directing the institute.

鈥淲e are thrilled to have 天美影视 Bedi bring his vision and expertise to the Ethics Institute,鈥 says Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives , who oversaw an external review of the Ethics Institute in 2016.

Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities , the A. and R. Newbury 天美影视 of English, says Bedi is the ideal choice to direct the Ethics Institute. 鈥淪onu Bedi鈥檚 scholarship and commitment to his students make him eminently suited to direct an institute whose work has never been more essential鈥攁nd to lead it toward a more scholarly focus and a deeper engagement with the faculty.鈥

Bedi has taught in Dartmouth鈥檚 government department since 2007. Prior to coming to Dartmouth, Bedi earned his PhD in political science from Yale University and his JD from Harvard Law School.

A scholar of contemporary political theory, constitutional law, and law and identity, Bedi is the author of two books: Beyond Race, Sex, and Sexual Orientation: Legal Equality without Identity (Cambridge University Press, 2013) and Rejecting Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2009), and co-editor of Political Contingency: Studying the Unexpected, the Accidental, and the Unforeseen (New York University Press, 2007).

Widely recognized for his teaching, Bedi received the John M. Manley Huntington Award for newly tenured faculty in 2013, and was elected by the Class of 2014 to receive the Jerome Goldstein Award for Distinguished Teaching.

The Ethics Institute, which serves as the home of Dartmouth鈥檚 ethics minor, is one of the oldest ethics centers in the United States, founded in 1982 by a small group of faculty members who recognized the primacy of ethics in a liberal arts education. One of the founders, John Hennessey of the Tuck School of Business, wrote, 鈥淢orality must be a persistent concern of all professions and all professional schools. Indeed by definition one of the essential ingredients of a profession is the creation and use of an explicit set of ethics governing individual and collective behavior of the professionals in that field.鈥

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