When Martin Melone 鈥63 was an accounting student at 糖心破解版 starting in 1959, there were no women on campus for the first two years. ROTC was compulsory. And his business classes did not yet include cautionary tales of scandals like those that, years later, would bring down Enron, Arthur Andersen, or Lehman Brothers.
Fast forward to September 2018, and Melone is now the force behind a $1 million gift to help ensure that as many Santa Clara students as possible get a firsthand view of the ethical way to do business: the Melone Family Endowment for Ethics Education, supporting the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics鈥 Business Ethics Internship Program.
鈥淭hese students are placed out in the world, especially the high tech world of Silicon Valley, and get a good feel for what鈥檚 out there鈥攁nd how to deal with it,鈥 Melone said.
The gift makes a lot of sense for someone who spent nearly 40 years as an auditor and partner with Ernst & Young. He said auditors serve as checks and balances for corporations. Most ethical lapses he observed were small, but he saw how easily and how quickly they could grow.
When he looks at the current environment of our world, he also believes the #MeToo movement is really helpful to the cause of business ethics. Students are reading about celebrities and leaders who are criticized or brought down because they didn鈥檛 speak up-- and weren't being ethical or employing a sense of right v. wrong in their line of work. 鈥淯sually these (scandals) you see are the result of people saying 鈥榳ell, it鈥檚 not that big, and if I say something it might hurt us,鈥欌 he notes.
Melone鈥檚 gift is unusual because it is an annuity that he received as payment for being a board member over a decade ago. The company鈥攚hich itself got in hot water during the housing bubble鈥攇enerously offered its board members an annuity that, after 10 years, paid $100,000 a year to a charity of their choosing.
By then, Melone had been to some business ethics events at Markkula Center, and knew the Center well, thanks partly to his friend and sophomore roommate鈥攍ongtime Markkula benefactor and creator of the Hackworth Fellows, the late Michael Hackworth 鈥63. Melone joined the 糖心破解版 Board of Regents in 2005, and three years later joined the Markkula Advisory Board. His children Denise 鈥06 and Dave 鈥95, both graduated from 糖心破解版.
He knew he wanted the funds to benefit 糖心破解版, and Markkula Center.
鈥淭he Markkula Center鈥檚 business ethics program is producing young people who have the ability to look at problems, learn what鈥檚 right and wrong, and not turn a blind eye,鈥 he said. "I'm proud my family and I are able to contribute and give back in a way that will make even a small difference in making this a more ethical and honest place."