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Thomas W. Harrell, Professor Emeritus of Applied Psychology, Dies at 90

May 8, 2002

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—Thomas W. Harrell, professor emeritus of applied psychology and expert on the personality of successful businesspeople, died April 17, in Portola Valley. Harrell, who was 90, had suffered for several years from colon cancer.

Harrell spent much of his career keeping tabs on Stanford MBAs who graduated from 1961 to 1965. He periodically published studies on this group, finding that high-wage earners and general managers tended to be communicative, outgoing, energetic and athletic. Less sociable sequipedalians—"nerds," he once explained—tended to be less successful. Harrell's work also disproved the stereotype that businesspeople have to step on others to get ahead.

"This was a very distinctive piece of research," V. Seenu Srinivasan said. Srinivasan, the Ernest C. Arbuckle Professor of Marketing and Management Science, also studies successful business managers, though his own research deals with more observable predictors, such as GMAT scores and undergraduate grade point averages. He praised Harrell for tackling slippery variables such as personality and choosing long-term study, rather than quick snapshots.

Harrell's research on disparities between men and women who graduated with Stanford MBAs grabbed headlines in the early 1990s. His 1993 study showed that women were soon earning less, getting fewer promotions and reporting less job satisfaction than men, although the two groups started out on relatively equal footing. In 1991, he reported that marriage helped men's careers yet hurt women's.

Charles T. Horngren, the Edmund W. Littlefield Professor of Accounting, emeritus, remembered Harrell as a warm person who was unusually interested in the people around him. "Certainly more than most people, he was interested in his colleagues-what they were up to professionally as well as in other areas," Horngren said.

Harrell also had a deep commitment to Stanford and the Graduate School of Business, Horngren added. "He was very loyal to Stanford. He was very interested in improving the education here and very interested in the alumni and their careers."

Harrell's wife Margaret, a statistician who co-authored many of his studies, passed away last year. He is survived by two children: daughter Susan Abrahamson, who lives in Edina, Minn., and son Tom Harrell, who lives in New York City.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be sent to the American Cancer Society and MidPeninsula Hospice Foundation in Menlo Park.

—Jia-Rui Chong, Stanford University News Service