<P> The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University is an interdisciplinary "think and do" tank committed to understanding and addressing real - world ethical challenges facing individuals, organizations and societies worldwide . The Institute promotes ethical reflection and engagement through its research, education and practice in five core areas: Human Rights, Global Migration, Rethinking Regulation, Moral Attitudes and Decision - Making, and Religions and Public Life . </P> <P> A small sampling of current projects includes an intensive semester - long undergraduate program on forced migration, a new laboratory on moral decision - making, a practitioner - in - residence program, a partnership with a U.N. working group on business and human rights, and a new initiative exploring how faith, citizenship, and the law intersect with processes of globalization . </P> <P> The Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University began as the Kenan Ethics Program in the fall of 1995 with a five - year grant from the William R. Kenan, Jr . Fund for Ethics . It was established in response to philanthropist Frank Hawkins Kenan's concern about what he perceived to be an increasing lack of ethical standards in public affairs and in business life . Mr. Kenan, then a trustee of the William R. Kenan, Jr . Charitable Trust and trustee of the Duke Endowment, and then - Duke President Nannerl Keohane sought to establish a university - based ethics program that would permeate the life of the university and extend into the life of the community and nation . </P> <P> In July 1999, the William R. Kenan, Jr . Charitable Trust established a $10 million endowment managed by the William R. Kenan, Jr . Fund for Ethics, thus committing itself to long - term support . The Kenan Ethics Program then became the Kenan Institute for Ethics, and over time, the trustees of the William R. Kenan, Jr . Charitable Trust built the endowment to $20 million . The Institute celebrated its new status in January 2001 . </P>

The kenan institute for ethics at duke university