CWU professor elected to serve on ethics organization board

Central Washington University Philosophy Professor Dr. Matt Altman recently joined the board of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (APPE) after being elected by his peers this summer.

The chair of the CWU Philosophy and Comparative Religions Department was elected to a four-year term along with two other first-year candidates and one second-term candidate. While Altman was chosen to fulfill a four-year term, he noted that he will serve the final two years of an outgoing board member’s existing term.

Three others were elected to serve as ex-officio members, who are appointed to the board for two years to provide additional perspectives and expertise. Elections are held each spring and the current terms began July 1.

Altman looks forward to sharing his expertise with the international nonprofit membership organization that supports research, training, and education in practical and professional ethics.

“The APPE does a lot of important work to bridge the gap between theory and practice,” he said. “People in business, medicine, engineering, and the military can learn from those who study ethics for a living. But academics need to understand what things look like on the ground, as people confront individual, institutional, and regulatory realities. I’m proud to be part of an organization that shows why philosophy matters for people’s professional lives.”

APPE works to improve ethical conduct in communities and workplaces, supports and develops the next generation of ethics faculty and professionals, and advances public dialogue in ethics and values.

The organization was founded in 1991 to encourage interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching among educators and practitioners. APPE has been housed at the Prindle Institute for Ethics at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, since 2017. To learn more, visit the organization's website.

“I have been actively involved in APPE since 2009, and it has been a source of both friendships and professional collaborations,” Altman said, adding that he was an Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl coach for seven years, including one team that qualified for the national championship competition.

Altman joined the CWU faculty in 2003 and served as the Philosophy and Comparative Religions Department chair from 2013-2018 before returning to the role in 2023.

He specializes in applied ethics, the philosophy of law, and the history of philosophy, and has published many academic journal articles and nine books, most recently on medical ethics (The Hackett Introduction to Medical Ethics [Hackett] and Ethics and Medical Technology [Springer]) and punishment theory (A Theory of Legal Punishment [Routledge]).

Aside from his CWU service, Altman has been an elected member of the Board of Commissioners for Kittitas County Hospital District No. 1 since 2015.