UI&U Board Elects New Chair and Trustee

CINCINNATI – Union Institute & University (UI&U) today announced that Virginia Ruehlmann Wiltse, Ph.D., was elected chair of its board of trustees at its annual meeting on Friday, January 27, 2012. Trustees also approved Union’s new executive committee which includes Dr. Wiltse as chair; Cincinnati-based Don Feldmann, president and CEO of Rippe & Kingston Capital Advisors, Inc., as vice-president and treasurer; and Union President Roger H. Sublett, Ph.D. as secretary. Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., author of Ethical Intelligence and host of Ask the Ethics Guy on Bloomberg Businessweek online, was elected to serve as a trustee, joining 13 others.

Wiltse, who succeeds Dr. Betty Overton Adkins, is co-founder and director of the Caring Response Madagascar Foundation (CRMF), the Cincinnati-based non-profit that creates and supports programs in education and healthcare for the poor in Madagascar. Wiltse and her son David Wiltse, launched CRMF in 2001. Among the multiple projects launched since its inception are the WomanWorks Initiative micro-lending project; adult literacy and native language books projects; and a creative arts initiative to teach sanitation and hygiene practices to the urban and rural poor. In November 2011, CRMF partnered with U.S. and Malagasy organizations for their largest project to date that provided specialized training, equipment and supplies to Malagasy physicians and midwives to prevent postpartum hemorrhage and handle pre-term and low-birth weight babies.

As the former development director for Seton High School, Wiltse played a pivotal role in a $13.5 million expansion and renovation project that features state-of-the-art science and technology facilities, an enhanced fine arts program, and a 1,000-seat gymnasium. She also previously served as foundations committee chairperson for the Seton capital campaign.

Wiltse has more than 20 years’ experience as a freelance writer, presenter, and multi-media producer. She began her earlier career in broadcast news working for WLWT, AM/FM, Cincinnati WTIC-TV, AM/FM, in Hartford, Connecticut WFSB-TV, Hartford, Connecticut.

Wiltse served for nine years as a trustee of the Sisters of Charity Ministry Foundation and was a member of the fundraising steering committee for the order’s Bayley Place Wellness Center for mature adults. Her numerous honors over the years include the Mother Seton Award for service to the Sisters of Charity and the Elizabeth Ann Seton Award for service to Seton High School. In 1984 the Cincinnati Enquirer honored Wiltse as a Woman of the Year for her achievements and community service.

Wiltse earned her Ph.D. from Union in 2000. In addition to her doctorate, she holds an M.A. and a B.A, both in history, from the University of Cincinnati.

Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D.

Union’s newest trustee is nationally recognized ethics consultant and author Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D. Weinstein currently hosts the series Ask the Ethics Guy on Bloomberg Businessweek online, where he also writes an ethics column. His clients include the National Football League, the National Guard (South Carolina Division), the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, the National Business Aviation Association, Help Desk International, Vistakon/Johnson & Johnson, Pri-Med Continuing Medical Education, the Eastern Michigan University College of Business, and more than 300 other schools, businesses, and non-profit organizations.

Weinstein has appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” CNN’s, “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” MSNBC’s “Live,” and many other national television programs.

Weinstein’s most recent book, Ethical Intelligence: Five Principles for Untangling Your Toughest Problems at Work and Beyond (New World Library, 2011), was recently listed as a top five business book on WashingtonPost.com and a top ten business book in WirtschaftsBlatt, Austria’s only business daily. Weinstein’s work has been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Investor’s Business Daily, and Family Circle. He was profiled in the in-flight magazines of American Airlines, Delta Airlines, USAirways, and United Airlines. His previous book, Is It Still Cheating If I Don’t Get Caught? (Macmillan/Roaring Brook Press, 2009), shows tweens and teens how to solve many of the ethical dilemmas they face at school and with family and friends.

Weinstein received a B.A. in philosophy from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in philosophy and bioethics from Georgetown University, a certificate in film production from New York University, and is the recipient of a national fellowship from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. He maintains the website, TheEthicsGuy.com.