By TODD GOTTULA
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – Internationally recognized speaker, best-selling author and corporate consultant Cynthia Cooper will speak about ethics and leadership development at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Cooper’s presentation, free and open to the public, is at 6:30 p.m. March 2 in the Nebraskan Student Union’s Ponderosa Room. The College of Business and Technology will host a Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours prior to Cooper’s talk from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Sandhills Room of the student union.
Cooper’s career path includes serving as vice president for MCI, where she helped the company successfully emerge from bankruptcy. Prior to joining MCI, she worked in Atlanta for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche.
Named one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year in 2002, Cooper and her team unraveled the fraud at WorldCom, one of the largest corporate frauds in history. Her book “Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower” examines the scandal.
“It is exciting to have someone of Cynthia’s stature visit our campus,” said Noel Palmer, assistant professor of management at UNK. “We are fortunate to hear a first-hand perspective from somebody on the team that uncovered the fraud and was right there for one of the largest bankruptcy filings in history.”
Cooper has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CFO Magazine and Business Week, and served on panels with well-known journalists such as Brian Williams, George Stephanopoulos and Anderson Cooper. She also appears frequently on national television networks ABC, FOX, CSPAN, NBC, PBS and CNBC.
She consults organizations across the world, with her client list made up of large-cap companies such as Dell, Bell South, PepsiCo, Walmart and AT&T; associations that include the National Association of Corporate Directors, Network of Executive Women and Washington D.C. Trial Lawyers Association; and public entities such as the FBI, U.S. Department of Interior and U.S. Department of Labor.
Cooper’s appearance is part of Ethics Week at UNK. The College of Business and Technology is the primary sponsor. Others funding the event include: College of Natural and Social Sciences, College of Fine Arts and Humanities, College of Education, Graduate Studies and Research, Academic and Student Affairs and Calvin T. Ryan Library.
“College of Business and Technology has been looking to extend Ethics Day beyond the college and give it more campus-wide and community interest,” said Palmer, one of the event coordinators. “Cynthia Cooper is a high-caliber speaker with big name recognition, and we think a lot of people will find her relevant.”
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Writer: Todd Gottula, Director of Communications, 308.865.8454, gottulatm@unk.edu
Contact: Noel Palmer, assistant professor management, 308.865.8678, palmernf@unk.edu
Contact: Stacy Darveau, College of Business & Technology, 308-865-8342, darveausl@unk.edu
