Edwin G. Booz
| Edwin G. Booz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 2, 1887 Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Died |
October 1, 1951 (aged 64) Evanston, Illinois |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Northwestern University (B.S., Economics, 1912) Northwestern University (M.S., Psychology, 1914) |
| Occupation | management consultant, businessman, corporate executive |
| Known for | Co-founder Booz Allen & Hamilton |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Hootman Booz (m. 6-Aug-1918, two children) |
| Children |
Mrs. Harold F. McGee Donald R. Booz |
| Parent(s) |
Thomas Booz Sally Spencer Booz (d. 1891) |
Edwin G. Booz (September 2, 1887 - October 1, 1951) was an American management consultant, businessman and corporate executive. He co-founded the consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton, the predecessor of both Booz Allen Hamilton - which focuses on government contracting - and the former Booz & Company, now known as Strategy&, a commercial management-consulting firm and component of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Biography
Early life and education
Booz was born in 1887 in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Thomas H. Booz and Sarah (Spencer) Booz.[1] The family was of modest means and he was one of seven sons. He worked his way through prep school, college, and graduate school at many and varied kinds of work—tutor, bookkeeper, draftsman, and business investigator.
At the Kellogg School at Northwestern University he obtained his bachelor's degree in economics in 1912, and his master's degree in psychology in 1914.[1] He had been a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity
Career
After his graduation Booz went into business for himself to perform studies and analyses of businesses. He founded Edwin G. Booz Surveys in 1914,[1] to conducted studies and business investigations for clients as varied as the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio; the Canadian Pacific Railway; Chicago's Union Stock Yards and Transit Company; and the Photographers Association of the United States.
World War I caused a temporary hiatus in his career as an entrepreneur, but not in his work as an analyst and solver of business problems. Drafted into the Army as a private to do personnel work in September 1917, he soon rose to the rank of major and worked with the War Department in Washington, D.C., to reorganize and perfect the business methods of its various bureaus. He left the Army in March 1919, ready to turn his business acumen to the service of bankers, manufacturers, advertising agencies, wholesalers, sales managers, publishers, real estate operators, public service cooperations, and other enterprises. Booz focused on identifying, diagnosing, and recommending solutions to business problems. His client base grew; he expanded his services to include executive recruitment; and he broadened the partnership base of the company so that in 1936, it became Booz, Fry, Allen, & Hamilton, and subsequently, Booz Allen Hamilton and Booz & Company.
Between the two World Wars, Booz continued to pursue his vision of dedicated service to businesses. In 1940, he responded to a request from the United States Secretary of the Navy to help the Navy prepare for war, thus beginning what turned out to be Booz Allen's long-term and continuing service to the federal government.
Retirement and death
Booz retired partially from the firm in 1946 and died of a stroke in October 1951.
Reception
Jim Allen on the company's annual conference in 1947 had stated about Booz:
- "I admire his deep sincerity, his high ideals, his uniformity of analysis, his ability to give and to take, his courage, his capacity for absorbing new tools, his burning desire to build soundly, his deep rooted conviction regarding the value of organization, his philosophical grasp of the implication of growth and perpetuation."[2]
In NNDB (2014) memorized about Booz:
- "According to company folklore, Booz once concluded a report to the chairman of Montgomery Ward by telling him that the only major problem with the firm was its chairman. Perhaps as a result of such bluntness, Booz gradually withdrew from the firm's work in the 1940s and instead focused his attention on writing aphorisms about life and work, which were circulated inside the firm's offices and became known as Boozisms..."[3]