University of Illinois College of Law

About

Gretchen A. Winter, JD is a clinical assistant professor of business administration who teaches business law, business ethics, and professional responsibility in the Gies College of Business and the Grainger College of Engineering City Scholars Program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She also is an invited professor at CY Cergy Paris School of Law, and she teaches students there and at the University of Illinois College of Law about effective ways to design and implement effective organizational ethics and compliance programs. Winter also is affiliated with other University of Illinois programs: She is a Teaching Sustainability Fellow with the Levenick Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment; a Collaborating Scholar with the Institute of Government and Public Affairs; and a Faculty Affiliate with the European Union Center and the Center for Global Studies. Her current research and curriculum development projects involve conducting video interviews with academic and practitioner “Business Ethics Pioneers” that are now part of the University Library Archives and using the interviews to develop edited transcripts for publications, video clips for classroom use, and case studies for the classroom.  Winter also serves as the consulting ethics officer for the United States Center for SafeSport.

Winter joined the University of Illinois in 2007 as the first full-time executive director of the Center for Professional Responsibility in Business and Society. She received a Dean’s Impact Award in recognition of her contributions to the College, including her role in the development of the Center as well as the award-winning Business 101 ethics and professional responsibility course and the Auditor Independence Education Materials.

Prior to her work with the University, Winter practiced law at Seyfarth Shaw, a Chicago-based firm, and then held various legal and human resources positions before leading the global ethics/business practice program at Baxter International Inc., a Fortune 100 medical products company.

She received her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and earned her BA in English Education, with a minor in economics, from the University of Illinois Chicago. Winter served for eight years as an elected Executive Board member of the Association of Practical and Professional Ethics (two as Board Chair) and currently is Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors for Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois. She also serves on the editorial board for Ethikos, a publication for ethics and compliance practitioners. She has chaired Leadership Greater Chicago’s Board of Directors and its Fellowship Association, the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association Board, and the Conference Board’s Global Business Conduct Council. Winter has served on numerous civic, professional, and State of Illinois higher education boards, and she frequently speaks on professional responsibility, compliance, and business ethics topics at global and domestic conferences, classes, and corporate programs.

Education

JD University of Chicago
BA University of Illinois at Chicago