MAHONEY, Thomas Arthur 1928-2004

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born February 27, 1928, in St. Louis, MO; died of complications from lung disease July 26, 2004. Educator, consultant, and author. Mahoney was considered one of the foremost experts on human resources and business organization theory and behavior. After earning a B.A. at Wabash College in 1950, he completed his graduate work with a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1956. He remained at Minnesota to start his academic career as an assistant professor, eventually becoming a full professor of economics and industrial relations in 1960 and directing the Industrial Relations Center from 1964 to 1966. While at Minneapolis he was credited with establishing a highly respected program in human resources at the Owen School. Mahoney left the University of Minnesota in 1982 to join the Vanderbilt University faculty as Frances Hampton Currey professor of organizational studies until his retirement in 1995. Even after retirement, though, he continued to teach as an adjunct professor until 2001. In addition to his teaching, Mahoney was an active business consultant to companies in the United States and abroad, most notably working with businesses in South Africa to prepare them for hiring minorities even before the end of apartheid. He was also a prolific author of books and articles and edited the Academy of Management Journal. Among his publications are Building the Executive Team (1961) and The Identification of Management Potential (1961). For his many contributions to teaching and the improvement of personnel management in the corporate setting, Mahoney received several honors, including the 1993 Herbert Heneman, Jr., Award for Career Achievement from the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management and the 1994 Alexander Heard Distinguished Professor Award from Vanderbilt University.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

ONLINE

News from Vanderbilt Online, http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/newspub/ (July 28, 2004).

Tennessean Online,http://cgi.tennessean.com/ (July 29, 2004).