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Stanford GSB News

 

Eugene Webb, Friend, Mentor, Teacher, Dies at 61

March 1995

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—Eugene J. Webb, a Business School professor for more than 25 years and one of the pioneers in the research and teaching of organizational behavior, died March 14 at Stanford University Hospital. He was 61.

Senator Paul Simon (D-Ill.), a longtime friend, called Webb "an uncommonly civilman with great research skills and practical insight."

During his years at Stanford, Webb served as associate dean of the Business School, chair of the University's Faculty Senate, and faculty sponsor for Stanford's program in Washington, D.C. He was cochair of the University Advisory Board, the elected panel that passes on all academic appointments and promotions at the University. In 1977, Webb became the first holder of the School's Lane Family Professorship, honoring the late Laurence W. Lane, founder of Lane Publishing Co. and publisher of Sunset magazine.

Webb played a pioneering role in bringing behavioral psychology into the mainstream curriculum of American business schools."He changed the way people thought about social science research and changed the way it was taught in American business schools," said Albert H. Hastorf, professor emeritus of psychology and human biology and a former Stanford provost.

Webb's best-known book was Unobtrusive Measures: Nonreactive Research in the Social Sciences, published in 1966 while he was teaching at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and coauthored by Donald T. Campbell, Richard D. Schwartz, and Lee Sechrest. "If there were a Pulitzer Prize for originality of ideas, I would vote to award it to Unobtrusive Measures," said Gordon Allport, the Harvard professor who was then one of the nation's most distinguished figures in social psychology.

At the time the book was published, American social psychologists used two primary methods of research: experimental work based on created situations, and questionnaires and public opinion surveys. Webb proposed a third method, one "that changed the way people looked at measurement in social psychology and the way they did research and how they defined variables," said GSB marketing professor Michael Ray, a former student of Webb's at Northwestern. The kind of measurement Webb advocated might gauge youngsters' levels of activity by how fast their shoes wore out or track the popularity of individual exhibits in a museum by measuring the wear and tear on the floor in front of the displays.

With his usual humor, Webb joked that his unobtrusive measures also could be described as "oddball measures." He had toyed with the idea of calling the book The Bullfighter's Beard, since some observers believed bullfighters' beards grew faster on days they fought. But, Webb cautioned, "No one seems to know if the torero's beard really grows faster on that day because of anxiety or if he simply stands farther away from the blade, shaking razor in hand."

Webb was a man of wide-ranging interests who became a leader in many of the Business School's most innovative programs. He was the founding director of the Public Management Program, which introduced the study of the public sector and nonprofit agencies into the management curriculum. He created and taught an MBA course in crisis management as well as a course in philanthropy for MBA students that culminated in students weighing grant proposals before passing out $10,000 in charitable gifts. He also developed an executive education program for corporate board directors.

Webb forged lasting ties with his students. Doctoral students he advised include management consultant and commentator Tom Peters, MBA '72, PhD '77; organizational behavior professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, PhD '72; and Ray. Peters dedicated his 1982 best-seller In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies to Webb and noted his leadership in unconventional thinking about organizational effectiveness.

"His outstanding gift was the gift for friendship,"said John Gardner, lecturer in organizational renewal and leadership, who credits Webb with being instrumental in his decision to come to Stanford. "He was my mentor during my first years here, despite the fact that I'm considerably older," said the founder of Common Cause and former Johnson administration Cabinet member. "He taught me about the University and how it functions, and helped me with some crucial decisions. He was truly an adviser."

"As a new dean in 1969, I depended on his wise and candid advice in matters academic, while at the same time finding him a source of innovation and creative program ideas," said former dean Arjay Miller.

"Gene was an institution builder" agreed Robert Jaedicke, who served as GSB dean from 1983 to 1990. Jaedicke said he agreed to become dean in part because Webb was then serving as associate dean. "The term collegial was invented to describe him, and I'm sure that his collegiality extended beyond the boundaries of the School itself. He was a friend whom we will all miss."

Webb earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Chicago. He worked for Edward H. Weiss Advertising in Chicago and for the Chicago Tribune's marketing group as a research psychologist, then taught at Northwestern from 1960 until 1968, when he moved to Stanford Business School.

Webb is survived by his wife, Mimi, his mother, and three adult children. The family asks that those interested in a memorial gift consider contributing to programs that promote the healthy development of young people. A fellowship fund has been established in his name at the Business School.