Seton Hall University’s Micah Institute for Business and Economics operates under the auspices of the Center for Catholic Studies. Its mission is to introduce faculty, students, and the business community to the Catholic perspective on business and economic life. It seeks to present the multiple ways in which these two interactive and vital engines impact the lives of all individuals personally, communally, and professionally.

 

Among contemporary social institutions, business exercises one of the most powerful influences on the formation of attitudes, values, and behavioral patterns in the world today. It profoundly affects persons and structures, individuals and societies, materially and spiritually. The Micah Institute provides various opportunities to reflect upon business methods and values through its programs and projects, namely the Micah Business Leadership Project, the Woodstock Business Conference/Seton Hall Chapter and the website resources of the  Micah Library for Business and Economics. The Micah Seminars for Stillman School of Business Students educate the next generation through semester-long seminars on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and values-driven servant leadership, for students in Seton Hall's Business School Leadership Studies curriculum. The programs seek to offer a comprehensive understanding of Catholic Social Teaching, exploring economic justice, key social issues, and the world of work.

 

Deacon William J. Toth, Ph.D.

        The Micah Institute for Business and Economics succeeds the former Institute on Work (IOW) which was formally established in 1996. The founder was Deacon William J. Toth, Ph.D. (1944-2008),  who was Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Immaculate Conception Seminary-School of Theology, where he joined the faculty In 1991. He taught courses in Catholic social teaching, theology and spirituality of work, as well as courses in fundamental moral theology and the connection between spirituality and contemporary culture. He was  the recipient of several teaching grants and research grants from the University and  participated actively in the University Research Council. Together with Msgr. Richard Liddy and Rev. Paul Holmes, Deacon Toth helped direct planning and writing of the $2 million grant awarded by the Lilly Foundation to Seton Hall University for the theological exploration of vocation throughout the university. In addition to his academic and research activities, Dr. Toth  directed major conferences at Seton Hall on job creation, work-life ministry, corporate executive leadership in the light of Catholic social teaching and has joined Msgr. Liddy in programs for the leadership formation of faculty and students of the various schools of the university. Deacon Toth was founding Executive Director of the Micah Business Leadership Project, a leadership formation for senior executives, business students and the business community, which continues under the Micah Institute for Business and Economics, and includes a memorial lecture series in his name.