Adela Gondek

Adela J. Gondek is a Lecturer in Discipline in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University.  A political scientist with specialization in the field of political philosophy, she teaches ethics for public leadership in the Executive and Global Executive MPA programs, and environmental ethics in the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy program, at the School of International and Public Affairs.  In the School of Professional Studies, she teaches ethics in the Master of Science in Sustainability Management program, and at the Earth Institute, an undergraduate ethics course in the Sustainable Development Program.  She has taught American political thought in the Department of Political Science, and Contemporary Civilization in the Core Curriculum program of Columbia College.   . 

Dr. Gondek has done extensive curriculum design in the developing field of practical and professional ethics.  She is an Associate of the Centre for Business and Public Sector Ethics in Cambridge, England; and has taught ethics in the MBA program at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.  Prior to her academic career, she served as a legislative analyst in the Massachusetts Senate, with expertise in consumer product safety and corrections reform.  Her research interests include environmental and sustainability ethics, public ethics, cross-sector corruption, organizational leadership and management, and transformative learning.   

She received her B.A., Summa cum laude, from Goucher College, and her Ph.D. in political philosophy and American public policy in the Department of Government of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, with registration also in the Kennedy School of Government and the Law School.

Education

• PhD in Political Philosophy and American Government, Harvard University
• BA in Political Science, Summa cum laude, Goucher College