About the Center
The Center for Ethics in Public Life was established by the Missouri General Assembly in 2006 through a legislative appropriation to the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The sponsor of the legislation, former Senator Chuck Gross, stated that the Legislature's intention was to promote ethical decision-making and personal integrity in the conduct of elected and appointed officials. Funding was provided to support practical training of officeholders and public administrators in ethical principles of government service, and to encourage scholarly research in the field of public service ethics.
The University is currently undertaking a national search for highly qualified candidates to serve as co-directors of the Center. One of the co-directors will be a practitioner with demonstrated public service experience and a commitment to integrity in government. The other will be an academic with a scholarly interest and research concentration in the field of public service ethics.
The Center has the goal to build the expertise, resources, and credibility to enable the Center to become the premiere academic and research institute in the nation for the study and promotion of ethics in public life.