Philip Hale Thurston of Weston, Massachusetts died March 24, 2006 peacefully
at home with his family. Born in Ocean Park, a part of Old Orchard Beach,
Maine on August 20th 1918, he was the third of six children of Frank Hale
Thurston and Alice (Lee) Wilson Thurston. He grew up in both Yonkers, NY
and Maine.
He earned his undergraduate economics degree from Columbia College in 1940
and took a position with Corning Glass, and then Sperry Gyroscope as a
supervisor of office services. In his teens, during college, and after
graduation, he spent several summers working in the Ocean Park Hotel, a
seasonal hotel that was owned by his father. After his father's death in
1941, he managed the hotel for his mother for several more summers. He
served in the US Army Air Force from 1942 to 1946 teaching flight
instructors how to train pilots in instrument flying.
After the war, he earned a MS in management from Columbia Business School
and then became a pioneer in computer programming at General Electric where
he learned to use paper punch-cards. While at GE he was part of a study
group that recommended the purchase of one of the first IBM mainframe
computers, and was among the early people at that company to learn to use
the computer and incorporate the technology in his work. In 1955 he took a
leave of absence to continue his education at Harvard Business School, and
upon completing his DBA he was invited to join the faculty.
He was a business man who became a teacher, and served on the faculty of
Harvard Business School from 1958 until his retirement in 1989. His
favorite time was in the classroom where he guided learning by the case
method, subtly directing the discussion among his students. He would say
that he tried to speak as little as possible in his classes because he felt
the students could learn better from each other. He taught both in the MBA
program and executive training programs and was always a favorite teacher
among the students, many of whom later invited him to consult and advise
them further in their business endeavors. Twice he taught in an exchange
program with the IMEDE Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He wrote
dozens of case studies and numerous articles for the Harvard Business
Review. He was named the Richard P. Chapman Professor of Business
Administration in 1977. After his retirement he continued serving on
several committees at Harvard Business School as an emeritus professor.
His world-wide travels for both business and pleasure allowed him to make a
huge and diverse group of friends, and he treasured and fostered those
friendships all his life. He spoke reverently of his mother and the life
lessons she taught him, and often attributed his liberal politics, open
mind, and egalitarian beliefs to her influence. He had impeccable manners
and was always the gentleman, and he was also a self-described feminist, a
member of the League of Women Voters, and a strong supporter of Planned
Parenthood. Both before and after his retirement he was a participant in the
local town government in Weston, where he served on the Finance Committee
and the DPW formation committee.
He is survived by his beloved wife Jean, his son Bruce, his daughter-in-law
Victoria, two grandchildren, and his sister Helen Condict of Concord, NH. A
memorial service will be held at the First Parish Church in Weston at 1:00
PM on Tuesday, April 4, 2006. Memorial donations made to the charity of
your choice would be appreciated.