Executive Director
408-554-5319
Contact Don Heider
Don Heider is the chief executive of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University with responsibility for vision, strategy, fundraising, and leadership. In addition to his role as executive director, Heider serves as the John Courtney Murray, S.J. University Professor of Social Ethics and holds an appointment as a tenured Full Professor in the Department of Communication. The Center is one of the most active ethics centers in the United States, with programs in business, government, journalism, technology, health care ethics, leadership and venture & equity ethics. Heider coordinates the activities of over 14 staff members who work directly for the Center and 75 affiliated faculty scholars who work on all aspects of applied and professional ethics. Formerly, Heider was the Associate Provost for Strategy & Innovation and Dean of the School of Communication at Loyola University in Chicago. He also was the founder of the Center for Digital Ethics and Policy at Loyola. He served as Associate Dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at University of Maryland, College Park, and as Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at University of Texas at Austin.
Heider began his career as a TV journalist and received five Emmy awards for his work. He is the author or editor of seven books including A Practical Guide to Digital Journalism Ethics, and Ethics for a Digital Age, Volumes 1 and 2.