APerez_NYU

When a star dies... does their light fade?

I received an 'eblast' from Elliot Masie today - unfortunately it's bad news.

This is what it said :
Peter Drucker, one of the true pioneers in the fields of management,
performance and values died on Friday at the age of 95.

Drucker’s career as a writer, consultant and teacher spanned nearly 75
years. His groundbreaking work turned modern management theory into a
serious discipline. He influenced or created nearly every facet of its
application, including decentralization, privatization, empowerment, and
understanding of “the knowledge worker.”

I had the privilege of meeting Peter Drucker almost fifteen years ago. We
had a conversation about the role that "training" could play (or not play)
in the development of effective leaders. He challenged me to ask 100
leaders how they became leaders and to listen carefully to their answers.
He predicted that I would find that the leaders pointed to strong role
models, mentors who were brave enough to tell them the truth and
opportunties that allowed them to perform, rather than slickly packaged
leadership courses.

Here is a bio of Drucker from the Claremount University oituary:

"Born November 19, 1909, in Vienna, Drucker was educated in Austria and
England and earned a doctorate from Frankfurt University in 1931. He
became a financial reporter for Frankfurter General Anzeiger in Frankfurt,
Germany, in 1929, which allowed him to immerse himself in the study of
international law, history and finance.

Drucker moved to London in 1933 to escape Hitler’s Germany and took a job
as a securities analyst for an insurance firm. Four years later he married
Doris Schmitz and the couple departed for the United States.

In 1939, Drucker landed a part-time teaching position at Sarah Lawrence
College in New York. He joined the faculty of Bennington College in
Vermont in 1942 and the next year put his academic career on hold to spend
two years studying the management structure of General Motors. This experience led to his book “Concept of the Corporation,” an immediate bestseller in the United States and Japan, which validated the notion that great companies could stand among humankind’s noblest inventions.
From 1950 to 1971, Drucker was a professor of management at the Graduate Business School of New York University. He was awarded the Presidential Citation, the university’s highest honor.
Drucker came to California in 1971, where he was instrumental in the development of the country’s first executive MBA program for working professionals at Claremont Graduate University (then known as Claremont Graduate School). The university’s management school was named the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management in his honor in 1987.

Drucker’s ideas have been disseminated in his 39 books, which have been translated into more than 30 languages. His works range from 1939’s “The End of the Economic Man” to “Managing in the Next Society” and “A Functioning Society,” both published in 2002, and “The Daily Drucker,” released in 2004. His last book coauthored with Joseph A. Maciariello, "The Effective Executive In Action" will be published by Harper Collins in January of 2006.Peter Drucker's work has been an inspiration to learning, development and leadership colleagues around the world. His legacy is carried on by the Leader to Leader Institute, led by Frances Hesselbein, which he founded to support organizational effectiveness in the non-profit world. [...]

Peter Drucker was one of the most unique, powerful and influential thought leaders in our field. Thanks for your inspiration and for always reminding us of the importance of values in organizations!

posted by ap @ 7:15 PM