Kansas City and Rockhurst University Welcome Business Ethics Advocate Cynthia Cooper

Rockhurst University's Helzberg School of Management will welcome Cynthia Cooper, a Time magazine 2002 Person of the Year and the woman credited with detecting and reporting the 2002 WorldCom fraud -- the largest corporate fraud in history -- for two April 8 events.

Cooper, former vice president of internal audit at WorldCom, will discuss her new book, Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower at the Newsradio 980 KMBZ Business Forum from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, at the InterContinental Hotel. The event is sponsored by UMB Bank and the Helzberg School of Management. A $50 registration fee reserves a book, lunch and parking. Pre-registration is recommended. Call 816-501-4025 to purchase tickets.

In 2004, Cooper became the first woman to be inducted to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Hall of Fame. In 2003, she received the first Accounting Exemplar Award presented to a woman. Cooper is a certified public accountant in the state of Georgia, a certified information systems administrator and a certified fraud examiner. She previously served as the chief audit executive for MCI until July 2004, and is currently the chairperson of the Louisiana State University Center for Internal Auditing Advisory Board.

As a strong advocate for ethical and moral leadership, Cooper travels throughout the country to share her story with students and professionals. She will bring her message to Rockhurst students the evening of April 8. For more information, contact John Meyer, director of the Center for Leadership and Ethics and Sullivan Chair in Ethics, at John.Meyer@rockhurst.edu.