The Elizabeth D. Rockwell Center on Ethics and Leadership at the Hobby School of Public Affairs will award $25,000 annually for a UH faculty member, a group of faculty members, or a department or college to organize a conference on some area of ethics and leadership. Preference will be given to proposals for conferences that are likely to yield articles or book publications, such as an edited book based on the conference or several articles by UH faculty members.

Applications for the EDR Conference Program are now being taken for the 2025-2026 academic year. Deadline for submission of awards is February 15, 2025. Applications should be submitted as one pdf to the EDR Center email address: edrcenter@Central.UH.EDU. Please write in the subject line EDR Conference Program application, and cc Daniel Engster: daengste@central.uh.edu. Application materials should include: 1) A description of the conference theme, an explanation of its importance, and a statement about how the conference will help to elevate UH’s reputation as a leader in ethics and leadership scholarship (no more than 1,000 words); 2) A list of potential invitees/participants in the proposed conference; 3) A brief description of plans to publish articles or a book after the conference; 4) The CVs of the main organizers of the conference; 5) A budget including rough estimates of costs of travel, hotels, food, and honoraria or other costs; 6) The proposed dates of the conference, a rough preliminary schedule of conference events, and a statement of whether the event will be open to students, other faculty, staff, and/or community members (not required); 7) A list of other funders of the conference, if any.

Criteria for the award include 1) potential of the conference to advance the discussion of ethics or leadership; 2) potential of the conference to increase national and international recognition of the University of Houston as a leader in ethics and leadership studies; 3) likelihood that the conference will result in some publications; 4) a record of excellence by the conference organizers in an area related to the conference theme; 5) feasibility of conference.

 For more information, please contact Daniel Engster at daengste@central.uh.edu

Revised 8/28/24