Ethics Center History
The Center is an outgrowth of the University's philosophy program recogonizing a need for ethics education in the professions both for students and the local community. This type of education has been identified by the state of Florida as an important objective in education, and the objective has been ratified by Florida's Board of Governors which operates the state university system. The UNF Board of Trustees of this University also strongly support this type of education in the area of applied ethics.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida made the largest gift to an academic program in the history of UNF on January 30, 2003. The $1 million gift, plus $750,000 in state matching funds, provides the core of funding for the Center. The Center also relies on additional gifts and grants.
Center's Management
Dr. A. David Kline is Director of the Center and Professor of Philosophy, and the former Provost and Interim President of UNF. Additionally, he held administrative posts at the State University of New York-New Paltz as Dean of the College of Arts and Science and at Iowa State University as Chair of the Department of Philosophy.
Dr. Kline’s undergraduate degree is in Biology from Wake Forest University; his Ph.D. is in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin. His research and teaching interests are applied ethics, philosophy of science and philosophy of technology. Currently, he is working on topics in educational ethics including lying, affirmative action in admission policies and the justification of civic engagement. Dr. Kline has co-edited three books and published over 30 articles in philosophy.