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Lawrence E. Fouraker, Dean of the Harvard Business School from 1970 to 1980 and an early advocate of a global perspective in management education, died of viral pneumonia on December 20 in Brookline, Mass. He was 74.
Fouraker joined the Business School faculty in 1961 after a decade as an economics professor at Pennsylvania State University. He quickly made his mark at HBS as an effective and highly regarded teacher in the MBA and Executive Education Programs, while also taking leadership roles in the administration of the School's international programs and its Division of Research.
Many significant changes took place at HBS during Fouraker's tenure as Dean, including sizable increases in the numbers of women and minority students; new curriculum initiatives in ethics, business and government, human resource management, and the management of small businesses; and substantial additions to the School's permanent endowment.
In addition, in a period when U.S. corporations were the center of business schools' attention, Fouraker saw the importance of an international outlook, encouraging research activities and educational programs around the world, including the establishment of an HBS program for international senior managers in Switzerland. He also encouraged HBS professors to give their advice and guidance to help create business schools abroad in cities such as Tehran and Jerusalem. "Larry Fouraker was a true visionary regarding the coming of a global economy," said HBS Dean Kim B. Clark. "He paved the way for the kind of international point of view that we regard as so essential today in educating leaders for the 21st century."
Former HBS Dean John H. McArthur praised Fouraker's successful efforts to manage and control the School's extremely rapid growth at the time - a process that began in the years following World War II - by limiting the increase in the size of the faculty so as to sustain the quality and unique character of the HBS community. "Larry had to make some tough decisions in this regard," said McArthur, "and he did so with courage, conviction, and unshakable integrity. His dedication to quality and the high standards he set in everything he did strengthened the School immeasurably for all who followed in his path."
Lawrence Edward Fouraker was born in Bryan, Texas, on October 28, 1923. His college years at Texas A&M University were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 but after his discharge, he resumed his studies there, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1947 and a master's in 1948, both in economics. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Colorado in 1951. An expert on business strategy and organization, Fouraker was the author of a number of publications and journal articles. A study (with Sidney Siegel) titled Bargaining and Group Decision-Making won the 1959 monograph prize in the social sciences from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Promoted to full professor at HBS in 1963, Fouraker was named the School's Edsel Bryant Ford Professor of Business Administration in 1968. When he became the School's sixth Dean in 1970, Fouraker assumed the George Fisher Baker Professorship, an endowed chair that was then traditionally given to the Dean of the School. After stepping down as Dean in 1980, he held the Ford Professorship for another year before leaving the faculty.
Fouraker received Harvard Business School's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in 1980. A professorship was established in his name in 1981 "in recognition of his many contributions" to HBS. He was also the recipient of several honorary degrees from institutions in this country and abroad and served on the boards of many major corporations throughout his professional life.
Fouraker is survived by his wife of forty-eight years, Patricia Orr Fouraker, and by a son, a daughter, and two grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at Memorial Church in Harvard Yard on February 20 at 2 p.m.
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