Corporate Ethics Consultant Carol Marshall Dies at 56

Carol Marshall, 56, an attorney and corporate ethics consultant who relied on the comic strip "Dilbert" to teach ethics awareness to Lockheed Martin employees in the 1990s, died of pancreatic cancer Sept. 21 at Washington Center Hospice in the District.

Mrs. Marshall, a District resident, began her career in 1981 with the Lockheed Corp., where she was one of the first female attorneys employed by the company. She became general counsel of the Lockheed Shipbuilding Co. in Seattle and later held the position of deputy general counsel and corporation secretary.

After Lockheed's merger with Martin Marietta in 1986, she became vice president of ethics and business conduct, where she developed creative ways of instructing more than 140,000 employees about the importance of ethics in the corporate culture. Relying on Dilbert and his comic-strip friends, she created a board game called "The Ethics Challenge," which became the mandatory ethics awareness program for every Lockheed Martin employee. The ethics program she created received the American Business Ethics Award and was recognized by the federal government as an industry standard.

Mrs. Marshall moved to MCI in 2003, where she held the position of senior vice president of ethics and business conduct. In 2006, she formed her own company, the Marshall Group, assisting companies that did business with the federal government.

She was born Carol Marianne Rud in Lakeland, Ohio. She received her undergraduate degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, in 1975 and her law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law in 1980.

Throughout her career, she was active in the corporate ethics field. She served on the board of the Arlington County-based Ethics Resource Center from 2005 to 2007 and as chair of ERC's Fellows Program, composed of representatives from government, academia and the nonprofit world who share an interest and expertise in organizational ethics. She also served with the Working Group Liaison to the Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics. The group coordinates activities related to business ethics for more than 90 signatory companies that are primary contractors to the federal government.

She was also involved in a number of civic and charitable activities, including service on the board of directors of Community Bible International and the Lockheed Federal Credit Union and the Business School Advisory Board at Georgetown University.

Ms. Marshall's marriage to Charles Werner ended in divorce.

Survivors include her husband of 23 years, Frank Marshall of the District; her mother, Ruth Rud of Cleveland; two children from her first marriage, Chip Werner of San Diego and Christine Maginnis of Arlington; a son from her second marriage, Andrew Marshall of the District; and a brother.

-- Joe Holley