News about our colleagues and BFCGI-related projects
Gustafson gave the talk, “A Catholic (Christian) Human-Centered Approach to Business: Economy of Communion” as invited speaker for Providence College Humanities Forum, Providence College, Rhode Island 10/17/2025 as well as an informal coffee-discussion talk ‘How Business Can Make Life Meaningful and Beautiful” to students earlier in the morning.
Gustafson presented at the CBFA annual convention a talk entitled “Beyond CSR to an Economy of Communion: Resources from the Catholic Tradition Which can Assist in Informing Christian Business Education” Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference, Lee University, Cleveland, TN October 11, 2025.
Gustafson gave an invited talk, “The Wounds and the Blessings of Practicing Business as an Agent of Communion” at Conference on “Thriving people, Thriving Businesses: Values, Trust and Cooperation in Business”, Mariënkroon, Netherlands (June, 2025 zoom).
Gustafson gave an invited lecture via zoom to students and faculty at Sophia University in Italy: “An EoC Company in the U.S.” 4/2/2025.
Gustafson gave two invited live talks on campus at Villanova University: “Economy of Communion: Not Business as Usual” to faculty and “The Promise and Problems of Practicing Business the EoC Way” to students at Villanova University, March 2025.
Gustafson made a zoom presentation: “Faith at Work: living the values of unity, gratuity and reciprocity through the Economy of Communion” to faculty and students at Villanova University, 2/13/2025
Gustafson gave a talk: “Christian Ethics and Business Ethics: The Good Life, Good Business, and the Common Good” invited keynote speaker for the business ethics interest group at the 2025 Annual Meeting of the Society of Christian Ethics, Chicago, January 2025.
Harvey and Gustafson presented a talk (via zoom) about the Economy of Communion vision of business to Villanova sponsored by the Center for Ethics, the Business School, and the Center for Church management on February 13, 2025:
2025
Gustafson was invited keynote speaker for a session at the Society for Christian Ethics in Chicago in January. His talk was entitled, “Christian Ethics and Business Ethics: The Good Life, Good Business, and the Common Good”
He also gave a talk, “Economy of Communion as an Ethical Way of Doing Business” at Villanova University, March 2025.
Harvey and Gustafson co-presented a zoom lecture “Faith at Work: living the values of unity, gratuity and reciprocity through the Economy of Communion” (zoom talk) to Villanova University, 2/13/2025
2024 Gustafson and Harvey co-edited a book of essays by scholars on the Economy of Communion movement: Bringing Faith to Business: An Economy of Communion Vision, New City Press, Co-edited with Celeste Harvey (April, 2024)
Gustafson also published a number of articles on business, faith and the common good including: “Shalom and Communion through the Practice of Business” Journal of Religion and Business Ethics (Dec, 2024)
“Considering Technology’s Effects on Humans: Pope Francis and Other Catholic Perspectives on AI and Social Media” Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities Journal (2024)
“Humanizing our Business Practices: Meaningful Work In Practice” Proceedings of the International Conference on Enabling Social and Business Responsibility in Our Globalized World Conference, Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, India (2024)
“The impact on Firm Value From The Announcement of Corporate Contributions to Planned Parenthood” (Co-Authored with Keith Olson and John Wingender) Journal of Academy of Business and Economics (January 2024).
Gustafson presented a talk, “Social Media, AI, and the Meaning of Life” for the Applied Analytics & AI Society club at St. John’s University, New York October 3, 2024.
He co-presented on “The Difficult Work of Bringing Peace Through Business Practices” panel with Paul Catipon and Celeste Harvey at the 2024 Focolare Conference, San Antonio TX September 20, 2024.
“Benevolent Capitalism” panel (with Phil Solinsky and John Mundell) and “Faith in Business” presentation (with Celeste Harvey) at the 2024 EoC Day conference, San Antonio TX 9/18/2024
Gustafson made an invited presentation, “How to Be A Christian Utilitarian” Erskine College, Due West SC, 4/3/2024 (Zoom).
He was also keynote speaker, providing a talk, “The Most Pressing Business Ethics Issues of 2024” Invited talk for Harmonizing Humanity and Enterprise: Fostering Ethical Excellence in Our Globalized Realm Conference, Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur India. 2/1/2024 (Zoom).
Other conference presentations in 2024 by Gustafson included:
“A Partial Christian Defense of Utilitarianism” (with David Reiter) at Society of Christian Philosophers Midwest Conference, University of Oklahoma, November 2024. “CST not CSR” International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference, Niagara NY (virtual conference) October 24, 2024. “Gustafson, Marcoux and McDonald Engage with James Stacey Taylor About His Book: Markets With Limits: How the Commodification of Academia Derails Debate” Society for Business Ethics Annual Conference, Chicago, IL August 2024. “Pope Francis and the Catholic Church on AI: A Very Important Concern for Catholic Higher Education” at Leadership in Catholic Higher Education: Knowing Our Past to Guide Our Future Conference at St. Bonaventure University, NY April 2024. “Kierkegaard and Zizek on Tragedy: The Lonliness, the Farce, and the Importance of Agnostic Humility” Virtuous and Vicious Responses to Tragedy, Christopher Newport University, Newport News February 2024 “Shalom and Communion Through the Practice of Business” Symposium on Shalom in Business, Calvin College, January 2024.
2023 Gustafson and Harvey co-authored 2 papers which were published in the Humanistic Management Journal in the fall: “The Economy of Communion Movement as Humanistic Management ” (Co-authored with Celeste Harvey) in Humanistic Management Journal (Sept 2023) and “From Profit to Purpose: The Distinctive Proposition of the Economy of Communion Approach ” (Co-authored with Celeste Harvey) in Humanistic Management Journal (Sept 2023)
Gustafson also published “A Distributivist Analysis of Investors’ Market Participation and its Effects on Single-Family Home Ownership” in the Business and Society Review (December 2023)
Other speaking engagements included:
“The impact on Firm Value From The Announcement of Corporate Contributions to Planned Parenthood” (Co-Authored with Keith Olson and John Wingender) International Academy of Business and Economics Conference, Oahu, December 2023. “Frank Knight’s Critique of the ‘Game of Business’ and a Practical Response to Inequity through Purposeful Free Market Entrepreneurship of EOC” International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference, Dublin, October 2023. “More than CSR: Why the Civil Economy Tradition and Economy of Communion Provide A Better Model for Jesuit Education” Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education Conference, San Diego, July 2023.
2022
The 2022 BFCGI annual symposium featured keynote speaker Richard T. DeGeorge, who has been active in the field of business ethics for over 40 years. His talk was “Business Ethics and the Common Good”
Gustafson has been asked to develop and present an open-online course for the Economy of Communion movement on the economic underpinnings of the EOC.
Gustafson was interviewed for a podcast with Nathan from the Lyceum movement in Des Moines in November. It is here.
Gustafson had a paper published in the Association of Franciscan Colleges and Universities Journal, “Authentic Human Leadership and the Common Good In Light of AI, Zoom Meetings, and Virtual Society”
Gustafson presented at the Ethics and Economics Symposium at Creighton 9/28 entitled: “Squeezing Blood from Turnips?: Ethical Insights for Business from Economics (Joe Heath) and Economists (Frank Knight)”
Gustafson presented “The Economy of Communion Movement as Humanistic Management” virtually for the International Vincentian Business Ethics Conference at St. John’s U in NYC in October.
Gustafson presented another version of the above mentioned paper, “(The Sorry State of) Utilitarianism In the Field of Business Ethics: Why It Is Neglected, and Opportunities for Research” at the Society of Business Ethics conference in Seattle in August.
Gustafson presented he and Harvey’s paper, “The Economy of Communion Movement as Humanistic Management” at the Academy of Management Conference (MSR) in Seattle in August.
Harvey presented her paper, “Luxury: The Forgotten Vice” at the North American Association of Social and Political Philosophy at Neuman University in Philadelphia in July.
David McPherson’s article “Love in the Christian Tradition” was published in Love: The History of a Concept (Oxford)
Harvey and Gustafson’s paper “How many Houses Should One Person Own?: A Distributivist Critique of multiple house ownership and its effects on the current housing market” was presented by Fr. Nicky Santos at the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education conference at Georgetown in Washington DC in July.
Harvey presented her and Gustafson’s paper “Humanistic Management and the Economy of Communion Movement” at the International Society of Business Ethics and Economics conference in Bilbao, Spain in July
Gustafson presented a paper “Why Utilitarianism Is So Neglected In the Field of Business Ethics, And What to Do About It” at the International Society of Business Ethics and Economics conference in Bilbao Spain in July.
David McPherson’s new book The Virtues of Limits (Oxford) was published!
Gustafson gave the Inaugural introductory lecture at Marquette University’s Center for Data, Ethics, and Society April 4th: “Ignatian Concerns Regarding Data Ethics and Society”
Gustafson gave 2 talks at Bonaventure University in Allegany New York in April for the Foster Center for Responsible Leadership, .“Authentic Human Leadership and the Common Good in light of AI, Zoom Meetings and Virtual Society” (Invited Keynote Speaker) and “How Business Can Contribute to the Common Good, and Character Formation” talk for students
2021
The 2021 Annual BFCGI Symposium September 16th will feature Charles Camosy, a well-known professor from Fordham University who has published extensively on ethical concerns. His book, “Resisting a Throw-Away Culture” will be the focus of his talk at the Harper Center at 3pm
BFCGI Colleague David McPherson has been awarded a research position at U-Colorado Boulder for the 2021-22 year where he will work on his next book, The Virtues of Limits.
BFCGI Colleague Gustafson will be presenting “An Ignatian Approach to Big Data Ethics” at the upcoming Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education conference in July at Fordham University. He continues to serve as the treasurer for the CJBE organization.
2020
BFCGI Colleagues Celeste Harvey and Andy Gustafson guest edited an issue of the Journal of Religion and Society (Supplement 22, 2020), publishing the revised articles from the 2018 BFCGI Symposium which can be found here.
BFCGI colleagues Andy Gustafson and Celeste Harvey co-authored “Introduction to Business, Faith, and the Economy of Communion Special Volume” in The Journal of Religion and Society (supplement 22, 2020)
BFCGI Colleague David McPherson was elected president of the Philosophers in Jesuit Education.
BFCGI Colleague Andy Gustafson published 2 articles relating to business and the common good in 2020: “Practicing Entrepreneurship as an Agent of Communion” The Journal of Jesuit Business Education (2020) and also “Living Out Business for the Common Good: Economy of Communion as a Lived Practice” in Business, Faith and the Economy of Communion (Supplement 22 of The Journal of Religion and Society (2020)
BFCGI Colleague David McPherson published Virtue and Meaning with Cambridge University Press in 2020
BFCGI Colleague Andy Gustafson has been invited by the dean of Loras College in Dubuque Iowa to give a talk February 2020 on “The Transformative Power of Catholic Social Thought” for their annual “Catholic Social Thought Competition” at the College of Business, and also to meet with faculty to talk about Catholic Social Thought into scholarship and teaching.
February 2020
BFCGI Colleagues Maggie Knight, Don Lux and Andy Gustafson have an article coming out in the Catholic Journal of Higher Education titled “Catholic Social Thought: Current State of Implementation at Catholic Business Schools” which is an empirical survey of Catholic Business Schools, which calls on them to do more to train faculty in CST.
BFCGI Colleague Andy Gustafson published “Economy of Communion as Lived Bridge Theology: Redemptive Transformational Entrepreneurship for Persons” in Bridge Theology in the Church of the 21st Century (Editors Tom Kelly and BobPennington) Herder and Herder Publishing (2020) This book was prompted by Pope Francis’ call for ethics to become more practical and in that sense to build bridges to real life concerns.
Gustafson published “A Utilitarian Perspective on humanizing Business” in Humanizing Business: What Humanities CanSay to Business (Springer) edited by Ed Freeman, Michel Dion and Sergiy Dmytriyev. (2020)7. This article focused on how a common good approach can make business more humane.
BFCGI Colleagues Andy Gustafson and Celeste Harvey attended and presented at the Economy of Communion Annual North American Conference in San Antonion January 2020. They both presented on a panel discussing recent research in the Economy of Communion, and Gustafson also presented on a panel of EOC entrepreneurs.
2019
BFGI Colleagues Andy Gustafson and Celeste Harvey attended and presented at the Vincentian Business Ethics conference in Dublin Ireland in October 2019.
The BFCGI 2019 Speaker Series brought 6 speakers to campus, from a wide variety of backgrounds and institutions including Calvin College, Ohio Dominican, Anderson College (SC), and U. Michigan.
The BFCGI Annual Symposium took place this year on September 13th. A variety of local business ownders spoke on the topic of how faith has impacted their business practices. Over 250 people attended the events.
Gustafson published “How Utilitarianism can inform Decent Managers in Plural and Culturally Diverse Contexts” in Moral Philosophy and Normative Ethics volume in The Springer Handbook of the Philosophy of Management (Springer, 2019)
BFCGI Colleagues Fr. Nicky Santos and Andy Gustafson attended the Colleagues in Jesuit Business Education Conference at Santa Clara University in California July 2019. Gustafson presented two papers– one on the Economy of Communion, and another with Alexei Marcoux on the ways in which Entrepreneurship contributes to Caritas and the Common Good by bearing uncertainties others want to escape.
We welcome Fr. Nicky Santos as new department colleague in Marketing and Management, as well as rector of the Jesuit community here at Creighton. Fr. Nicky also joins as a Colleague here at the Business, Faith and Common Good Institute! See the recent piece of Fr. Nicky here: https://www.creighton.edu/creightonmagazine/2019spranewscreightonconversations/
Andy Gustafson will participate in an invited panel discussion on the implications of Pope John Paul II’s “Fide et Ratio” for business practice at the upcoming Vincentian Conference on Business Ethics in New York in October.
Colleague Maggie Knight becomes tenure-track professor in Accounting department at Heider
Colleague Tom Kelly participated in a one-on-one discussion/debate with Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA on Creighton’s Campus
Colleague David McPherson has edited a new book, Spirituality and the Good Life (Cambridge U. Press, 2017)
Article on Gustafson’s rehab/rental business in midtown Omaha
Gustafson is a member of the Economy of Communion
Gustafson Fixes up Neighborhood (Creightonian)
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance by Purcell’s Accounting Students (Tax Advisor)
Business, Faith, and the Common Good Institute 