Levi Strauss honored with Notre Dame ethics award

Armin Broger will accept the 2010 Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Exemplary Ethical, Environmental, Social and Governance Practices from the University of Notre Dame April 12 (Monday) on behalf of his company, Levi Strauss & Co.

Broger, a 1986 alumnus of the Notre Dame MBA program, serves as president of Levi Strauss, Europe.

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C, Notre Dame president emeritus, will present the award at 4 p.m. in the Jordan Auditorium of the Mendoza College of Business. The award is presented annually by Notre Dame’s Institute for Ethical Business Worldwide and Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business.

The apparel company Levi Strauss was nominated for the award for two areas of contribution, explains event organizer, Patrick E. Murphy, a professor of marketing at Notre Dame. First, in 1991, Levi Strauss became the first multi-national apparel company to extend a comprehensive code of conduct beyond its own facilities, to its suppliers to provide the individuals making their products worldwide with safe and healthy working conditions.

Second, this year Levi Strauss became the first major retailer to include messaging encouraging consumers to donate used clothing on its product care tags. The “A Care Tag for Our Planet” program is a partnership with Goodwill Industries that empowers consumers to participate in their mission to reduce waste and increase the life cycle of clothing.

The award ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by the Frank Cahill Lecture featuring a panel discussion by current MBA students Molly Iarocci, Karl Jensen, Matt Kelly and Azar Williams, who will discuss ethical issues they have faced in the early years of their professional careers.

Previous winners of the Hesburgh Award include General Electric, Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz, and Ronald Grzywinski and Mary Houghton of ShoreBank Corp.

Contact: Patrick E. Murphy, 574-631-9092, Murphy.72@nd.edu