Manhattanville College, Helping Dominican Students Reach Their Goals
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Building Ethical Leaders
Since coming to the U.S. from England some 36 years ago—“to reverse this thing about representation and taxation,” he jokes—Davidson has made a huge difference in many people’s lives. His Dominican-student program, which he calls a “true success story, a fairytale come true,” is only one example of that.
Gabriella Maria Aybar Ornes, Melissa Goodin Mata, Dean, Anthony Davidson, Ministra Ligia Melo, Fraynelis Ulerio Almonte, Jose Omar Tamarez Perez
Another comes in the form of being a judge for the Family-Owned Business Award hosted by the Westchester County Business Journal. He, along with a panel of other judges, find and celebrate the best family-owned companies in the region, basing their decisions on a number of factors, including not only how long a business been family owned, or how successful it is, but also how much they give back to the community.
To him, that may be the most important part of the judging. “Obviously everybody has business success and everybody has community service. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be candidates, but when you read the passion that comes through with some of these applicants and what they do for the community, what they give up either in terms of funding, subsidies or their own person—their time—that’s what gives them the nudge when I’m assessing them,” he says.
Indeed, this type of awareness is almost built into Davidson’s DNA. When he took over as dean of Manhattanville’s School of Business, he dispensed with all courses that covered only ethics. His reasoning for this, he notes, is his belief that ethics should be interwoven into the curriculum of every course—which he considers one of the hallmarks of the entire college: building ethical leaders.
“I reject utterly the notion that you cannot be successful in business if you adopt that embracing attitude towards ethics. I’ve always had the good fortune to engage with individuals and companies that share that philosophy, that are ethical and committed. And in the end, we are all the better for it,” Davidson remarks.
And so is everyone who has come into contact with him, whether in the boardroom, the classroom or on the soccer field.
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