 In 1986 Bynum decided to find a university that would enable him to create a world-class research center on computer ethics.The following year he joined the faculty at Southern Connecticut State University, where he created, in 1988, the Research Center on Computing and Society.To generate a "critical mass" of scholars with whom his Center could work, Bynum decided to organize a national conference to which he would invite philosophers, computer scientists, and other academics, as well as public policy makers and journalists.