Anne Barnhill, Ph.D., core faculty member at Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, will present The Edward S. and A. Rita Schmidt Lectureship in Ethics at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 25, in Susquehanna University’s Degenstein Center Theater.
Barnhill’s lecture is titled The Ethics (and Legitimacy) of Vaccine Requirements. The event is free and open to the public.
Barnhill is a philosopher and bioethicist whose research centers on the ethics of public health and the ethics of food and agriculture. Her recent work with colleagues at Johns Hopkins explores the ethical challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the ethics of lockdown and reopening, the ethics of digital contact tracing, and ethical issues related to Covid-19 vaccination.
The Edward S. and A. Rita Schmidt Lectureship in Ethics highlights ethical issues across disciplines, and encourages thought and exploration of these issues amongst students, faculty and the community.
This lectureship has been made possible through the generous gifts of Edward R. Schmidt ’69, who has emphasized his desire to impart to students an understanding and appreciation for the value and role of ethics in professional and personal endeavors. Schmidt named the lectureship in honor of his parents, Edward S. and A. Rita Schmidt, formerly of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, recognizing that the first teachers of ethics and moral behavior are parents.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree in economics from Susquehanna, Schmidt graduated from the University of Notre Dame Law School in 1972. He is a retired partner of the Indianapolis, Indiana, law firm, Krieg DeVault, LLP, where he chaired the tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations practice group and served as a member of the firm’s executive committee. He served as executive vice president, general counsel-secretary and was a member of the Board of Directors of USA Group Inc., the largest guarantor of student loans in the United States. Schmidt remains active and interested in Susquehanna, where he served as a member on the Board of Trustees 2004–2021 and was honored with Trustee Emeritus status in 2021. He served as the vice chair of the board and chair of its compensation committee. He and his wife Donna are the parents of three adult sons, Jeffrey D. Schmidt, Esq., Todd E. Schmidt, M.D., and Michael J. Schmidt, Esq.
