Christopher Adkins

Christopher Adkins is associate teaching professor at the University of Notre Dame and executive director of the Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership.

Prior to Notre Dame University, Adkins was director of the Undergraduate Business Program at the College of William & Mary (Mason School of Business) in Williamsburg, Virginia. He joined the program in 2002.

As an educator, Adkins seeks to develop innovative educational programs that inspire students to excellence in business and in social responsibility. He has worked with the Aspen Institute's Giving Voice to Values program to adapt their MBA-level initiative for his undergraduate business ethics course. He also collaborated with Saatchi S to launch the first personal sustainability program at a university. Adkins presently is developing a new sustainability symposium (October 2010) for college students and business leaders with support from the Corporate Eco Forum.

In his research, Adkins explores the educational implications of research in cognitive neuroscience and social psychology, particularly in the areas of ethical decision-making, sustainability, and experiential learning. Current research projects include: an empathy-based model of ethical decision-making in business; the role of memory and emotions in analytical and intuitive decision-making; the psychology of sustainability and implications for inspiring individual and communal actions. His research has been selected for the national conferences for Academy of Management, Society for Business Ethics, the Association for Moral Education, Society for Research in Adult Development, the American Counseling Association, and the Jean Piaget Society.