VELUX Endowed Chair 2014-2019

Photo: Pre-EGOS event; 'Business and Society: From Responsibility to Governance' and launch of the book 'Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategy, Communication, Governance', June 2017 in Råvarebygningen, CBS.

Thanks to a generous grant from the VILLUM FOUNDATION (15 million DKK), CBS in 2014 established an Endowed Chair in Corporate Sustainability to significantly strengthen and develop CBS’ research, education and outreach in an area of the upmost importance to business and society. Corporate Sustainability, both as an intellectual inquiry and a field of practice, explores crucial aspects of the interface between private enterprise, public policy and civil society.

With Professor Jeremy Moon as the “VELUX Professor of Corporate Sustainability,” CBS attracted a top researcher who for many years has garnered global recognition for his pioneering research, award-winning teaching, and his influential collaboration with companies and politicians. Jeremy Moon came from a position as Professor at Nottingham University Business School, UK, and Director of International Centre of Corporate Responsibility, one of Europe’s most renowned. Jeremy Moon’s research focuses on: corporate social responsibility; corporate sustainability; corporate citizenship; corporations and governance; business and politics. Read Jeremy Moon's CSR story.

In addition to the Professorship, the VILLUM Foundation grant funded Assistant Professor Lauren McCarthy, PhD candidate Erin Leitheiser, PhD candidate Luisa Murphy and Research Assistant and Project Manager Louise Thomsen. The team also worked with the 'Governing Responsible Business' research environment, which hosted the Business of Society blog.

The VELUX Endowed Chair in Corporate Sustainability was housed within and hosted by CBS Sustainability and the Department of Mangement, Society and Communication.

The Velux Endowment came to an end in 2019 but many of the activities continue within the framework of the CBS Sustainability centre, of which Jeremy Moon is now a co-director. Read more about the history of the Velux Endowed Chair in Corporate Sustainability and its collaboration with the Governing Responsible Business research environment here.

The VILLUM FOUNDATION is a non-profit foundation created by Villum Kann Rasmussen. The foundation is the principal shareholder of VKR Holding, the parent company of  VELUX A/S and other companies in the VKR Group, whose mission it is to bring daylight, fresh air and a better environment into people’s everyday lives. In 2014, the VILLUM FONDEN awarded 947 million DKK to non-profit purposes.