NEW YORK, NY – The Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE) will present its 2019 Awards for Ethical Leadership at its annual gala and awards dinner on Monday, April 15, 2019 in New York City. The event will begin at 6:30 pm and will be held at CNVS.
This year, FASPE’s Posthumous Honoree is Fritz Bauer, the late judge and prosecutor who distinguished himself for prosecuting Nazi war criminals following World War II, and in particular, for having been the first prosecutor to bring criminal charges under German law in German courts against officials at Auschwitz, despite active opposition from his superiors.
Heiko Maas, German Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, will be accepting this year’s posthumous Award for Ethical Leadership on Bauer’s behalf at a private cocktail reception on April 2 in Manhattan. German Consul General David Gill will attend the FASPE gala on April 15 to represent Maas and the German Consulate. Gill also serves as one of the FASPE gala’s honorary chairs.
“We believe there is no individual more deserving of our posthumous Award for Ethical Leadership than Fritz Bauer,” said David Goldman, Founder and Chair of FASPE, which runs innovative fellowship programs that challenge graduate students and early-career professionals in business, journalism, law, medicine and religion to confront their ethical responsibilities by first studying their professional counterparts in Nazi Germany. “Simply put, his actions define ethical leadership within the law—even more so for having been undertaken at personal risk and for the benefit of the larger community.
“FASPE’s choice of the person to accept the award is just as important as the choice of the posthumous honoree himself,” continued Goldman, “We are particularly honored that Minister Maas is able to accept the Award on Bauer’s behalf, as we believe that his entire body of work as a public figure embodies the principles that Bauer stood for.”
Maas is widely known for championing Bauer’s legacy. In 2015, when he was Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection, Maas established the Fritz Bauer Thesis Award for Human Rights and Contemporary Legal History. Maas has also said that the legacy of the Holocaust was pivotal to his decision to enter politics.
“I am deeply honored to accept the FASPE award on Bauer’s behalf,” said Maas, “The history of the German judiciary doesn’t have many heroes. One of the few was Fritz Bauer. He stood up for democratic values during the Weimar Republic, rejected the barbaric Nazi regime and continued his fight for justice in postwar Germany. Facing suspicion, even hostility, Fritz Bauer stayed true to his conviction that a democratic Germany could only have a future if it confronted its shameful past. His belief in justice and his quest for humanity inspire us, day by day, to stand up for human rights, to defend democratic values and to protect human dignity itself.”
FASPE is also presenting Awards for Ethical Leadership to two other honorees this year. The global consulting and professional services firm Accenture is this year’s Corporate Honoree. It is being recognized for its leadership in applying ethical principles to the development and use of artificial intelligence and other innovative 21st century technologies. Physician, researcher, author and 2012 FASPE Medical Fellow Dr. Dhruv Khullar will be named Distinguished Fellow. Khullar is being honored for his broad reach in bringing public awareness to key issues in medical ethics today through his writings and public appearances.
About FASPE
FASPE provides a unique historical lens to study contemporary ethics in the professions. Currently entering its tenth year of operations, FASPE’s Business, Journalism, Law, Medical and Seminary programs engage graduate students and early-career professionals in an intensive two-week study trip to Germany and Poland, where they explore contemporary ethical issues in their respective fields by first studying their professional counterparts in Europe during the period of 1933-1945. FASPE selects approximately 65-75 Fellows each year for its five programs through a competitive application process. It currently has over 500 alumni fellows, many of whom are emerging as leaders in their fields.
Visit www.faspe-ethics.org/gala to learn more about the 2019Awards for Ethical Leadership and to purchase tickets. To learn more about FASPE, visit www.faspe-ethics.org.
FASPE is a New York non-profit corporation with tax qualification as a 501(c)(3) entity.