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The ɫ����Ƶwelcomed David Roux, chairman of the Jackson Laboratory, as the speaker at the eleventh annual Paul D. Merrill Business Ethics Lecture, which was held on Wednesday, May 2 at 5 p.m. in Innovation Hall on ɫ����Ƶ’s Portland Campus. Roux presented “Social Trauma: Technology Tsunamis and Other Dangerous Consequences of Higher Education.”

The lecture discussed social dynamics of major new technology platforms — how the benefits typically flow and where the trauma occurs. Roux described how the product diffusion happens, highlight some distinctive recurring patterns and explain why truly innovative technologies are always accompanied by irrational new business formation, valuation bubbles, stock market manias, novel criminal activity, labor dislocations and regulatory over-reach. He was eager to visit with ɫ����Ƶ students to discuss these and other related matters. “I look forward to meeting with students and talking about the role technology plays in our economy and society at large,” said Roux before the event.

Prior to joining the Jackson Laboratory, one of America’s largest independent biomedical research institutes, Roux served as co-CEO and chairman at Silver Lake Group, the world’s largest technology private equity firm, which he co-founded. Earlier in his career, Roux worked as a senior executive at Oracle, Liberate, Lotus and Datext. He grew up in Maine and attended Harvard College, Kings College at Cambridge University and Harvard Business School.  

ɫ����Ƶ President James Herbert, Ph.D., believes that Roux’s talk at ɫ����Ƶ afforded a significant and beneficial experience to the entire ɫ����Ƶ Community, particularly the students. “David Roux is a true success story—the chapters of which we can all learn from,” Herbert said. “His drive to found the first commercial CD-ROM publishing company when he was only one year out of business school, his keen instinct that, back in the 1990s, convinced him of just how big the internet and related industries would be, and his focus on philanthropy all provide invaluable lessons to our students, no matter what their field of study.”

The Paul D. Merrill Business Ethics Lecture Series, sponsored by ɫ����Ƶ’s Department of Business, honors the late Paul D. (P.D.) Merrill, Portland-area business leader and longtime ɫ����Ƶ trustee, supporter and friend. The series was created to inspire business and community leaders to think about topics relating to ethics and to integrate a values-based way of thinking into their work and everyday lives.

To learn more about the event, visit www.une.edu/lectures/merrilllecture or call (207) 602-2306.

To apply, visit www.une.edu/admissions