David Hess is a Professor of Business Law and Business Ethics at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. He has a PhD in Management (Corporate Strategy field) from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law. He has taught a variety of courses on business law, business ethics, business and human rights, corporate social responsibility, and negotiations. He has previously served as the Faculty Director of the Nonprofit and Public Management Center at the University of Michigan and was the founding Faculty Director of the Center for Social Impact at the Ross School of Business. Professor Hess served as the Reporter for the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Standards on corporate monitors. He currently serves on the governing board of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association. He is the Law, Public Policy, and Business Ethics Section Editor for the Journal of Business Ethics, and serves on the editorial boards of the American Business Law Journal, Business Ethics Quarterly, and the Business and Human Rights Journal.

Professor Hess’s research focuses primarily on the role of the law in ensuring corporate accountability. His publications in this area have analyzed the use of non-financial reporting by corporations; efforts to combat corruption in international business; the link between corruption and business and human rights; human rights due diligence; modern slavery in global supply chains; the use of corporate monitors in criminal settlements; and the role of compliance and ethics programs in creating more ethical corporate cultures. This research has been published in leading law, ethics, and management journals, and has been recognized with national awards, such as the Faculty Pioneer Award from The Aspen Institute.

His recent publications include:

Goldstock. R. (Chair) & Hess, D. (Reporter). 2020. American Bar Association Standards for Criminal Justice: Monitors and Monitoring. Chicago, IL: American Bar Association Publishing. ISBN: 978-64105-505-5.

Hess, D. 2021. “Modern Slavery in Global Supply Chains: Towards a Legislative Solution,” Cornell International Law Journal, 54 (2): 245-289.

Hess, D. 2021. “The Management and Oversight of Human Rights Due Diligence,” American Business Law Journal, 58 (4): 751-798.

Hess, D. 2021. “Ethics and Compliance Training,” in D. Daniel Sokol & Benjamin van Rooij (eds.), Cambridge Handbook on Compliance. Cambridge University Press.

Hess, D. 2019. “Chipping Away at Compliance: How Compliance Programs Lose Legitimacy and its Impact on Unethical Behavior,” Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial and Commercial Law, 14(1): 5-21

Hess, D. 2019. “The Transparency Trap: Non-Financial Disclosure and the Responsibility of Business to Respect Human Rights.” American Business Law Journal, 56(1): 5-53.

Hess, D. 2019. “Private Sector Corruption,” in Cecily Rose, Michael Kubiciel & Oliver Landwehr (eds), United Nations Convention Against Corruption: A Commentary, Oxford University Press.