Professor Thomas Kennedy, an authority on labor relations at Harvard Business School and a highly respected labor arbitrator, died last December in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He was 88 years old.

A member of the HBS faculty from 1956 to 1978 and for many years the Albert J. Weatherhead, Jr., Professor of Business Administration, Kennedy established a reputation as an exceptional teacher. Dean Kim B. Clark commented, “During his two decades on the faculty, Tom Kennedy played an influential role in an institution that prides itself on the high quality of its instruction. No one who took one of Tom’s classes could ever forget him.”

Kennedy developed an expertise in international labor relations while teaching from 1976 to 1978 in an Executive Education program then offered by HBS in Switzerland. He also participated in management programs at major corporations and taught courses in labor relations in several Latin American countries. He wrote numerous case studies and was the author or coauthor of five books on labor relations and arbitration. In 1988, Kennedy was honored with the School’s highest accolade, the Distinguished Service Award.

After retiring from the School, Kennedy became a full-time visiting professor at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, where students established the Thomas Kennedy Outstanding Teacher Award in his honor. He also remained active as an arbitrator, working as recently as 1994 on cases involving the city of Philadelphia and its police officers.

Born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1912, Maynard Thomas Kennedy received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Swarthmore College in 1934. In 1947, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, which published his dissertation on labor-relations practices in the U.S. hosiery industry. In 1950, he became director of industrial and public relations at the Atlas Chemical Company in Wilmington, Delaware, before joining the HBS faculty six years later.

A memorial service will be held in Pennsylvania this spring. Donations in Kennedy’s memory may be sent to the American Friends Service Committee, c/o Ms. Jeanie Moses, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102.

Post a Comment