Percy Shiras Brown (October 15, 1883 – 1973) was an American

chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

, industrial and consulting management engineer, educator, and business executive, who served as president of the

Taylor Society The Taylor Society was an American society for the discussion and promotion of scientific management, named after Frederick Winslow Taylor. Originally named The Society to Promote The Science of Management, the Taylor Society was initiated in ...

in 1924–1925, and as president of the

Society for Advancement of Management The Society for the Advancement of Management, commonly known as SAM, is the oldest among professional management societies. On November 11, 1910 colleagues of Frederick W. Taylor met at the New York Athletic Club to discuss and promote the prin ...

in 1942–44. Moustafa H. Abdelsamad (ed.) "SAM Diamond anniversary," in: ''SAM Advanced Management Journal,'' Vol 53. Nr. 2 Spring 1988. p. 41

Biography

Youth and early career

Brown was born in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.''Who's who in Finance and Industry,'' Volume 4. 1944. p. 133 Brown was brother to Carlton F. Brown, later General Manager, and to Harold McD. Brown, later Publicity Manager of the

Corona Typewriter Company Smith Corona is an American manufacturer of thermal labels, direct thermal labels, and thermal ribbons used in warehouses for primarily barcode labels. Once a large U.S. typewriter and mechanical calculator manufacturer, Smith Corona expanded a ...

, in 1917, when Brown would join his two brothers in that firm.Ernest Merton Best. ''Business Equipment Topics.'' Volumes 35-37. 1917. p. 222 Brown attended St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and studied chemical engineering at the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

. After his graduation, in 1906, he started as chemist at the Western Electric Co. in New York.William Henry Van Benschoten. ''Concerning the Van Bunschoten or Van Benschoten family in America.'' 1907. p. 139 Next he was General Superintendent of a prominent manufacturing company. In 1912 he returned to the Western Electric Co. where he was employed in research and efficiency work for five years. In 1917 Brown joined the

Groton, New York Groton is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 5,950 at the 2010 census. The name is taken from Groton, Massachusetts. The Town of Groton contains a village, also called Groton. The town is in the northeast co ...

, where he was Works Manager T. S. in 1922 and Vice President in 1924. In the year 1924-25 he also served as president of the

as successor Richard A. Feiss, and the next year he was succeeded by

Morris Llewellyn Cooke Morris Llewellyn Cooke (May 11, 1872 – March 5, 1960) was an American engineer, best known for his work on Scientific Management and Rural Electrification. Biography Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as one of eight children of William Harvey ...

Further career and other activities

In the year 1926–27 he was sales manager for the Portable Adding Machine Co. In 1927 he was appointed American deputy director at the International Management Institute, in Geneva, Switzerland. In May 1928 he resigned to protest against the manipulations in the institute by its first director, Paul Dévinat. Back in the States in 1929 he became associated with Edward A. Filene in 1929–30, and 1933–37. In between, from 1930 to 1933 in Chicago he was partner at James O. McKinsey & Co., now

McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...

. In the late 1930s Brown also became board member of the

Institute for Propaganda Analysis The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) was a U.S.-based organization operating from 1937 to 1942, composed of social scientists, opinion leaders, historians, educators, and journalists. Created by Kirtley Mather, Edward A. Filene, and Clyde R ...

.Sproule, Michael J. (1997) ''Propaganda and Democracy: The American Experience of Media and Mass Persuasion'',

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

. p. 131 Later in the 1940s he served as executive director Filene Goodwill Fund.United States. Congress. ''Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress, Volume 93, Part 11.'' 1947. Also from 1942 to 1944 he served as president of the Society for Advancement of Management as successor of

James Keith Louden James Keith Louden (March 4, 1905 — August 12, 1994) was an American industrial engineer, business executive, and management author. He served as the 4th president of the Society for Advancement of Management in the year 1941-1942, and was the r ...

, and was succeeded by Raymond R. Zimmerman. And in 1944 he was also secretary and treasurer of the Consumer Distribution Corp.

Personal

Brown married Katherine Terry of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

on December 12, 1905. They had one daughter, named Priscilla, who would marry Irving W. Burr (1908–1989), author of ''Applied Statistical Methods,'' and recipient of the 1958

Shewhart Medal The Shewhart Medal, named in honour of Walter A. Shewhart, is awarded annually by the American Society for Quality for ''...outstanding technical leadership in the field of modern quality control, especially through the development to its theory, ...

Selected publications

* Filene, Edward Albert, Werner Karl Gabler, and Percy Shiras Brown. ''Next steps forward in retailing.'' Harper & Brothers, 1937; French translation 1939. ;Articles, a selection * Percy S Brown. "Functionalized time - study methods." ''Automotive Engineering,'' Volume 13. 1923. p. 433 * Percy S. Brown, "The Works and Aims of the Taylor Society," ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science'' (May, 1925
online at JSTOR
* Brown, Percy S., "A Few Facts about Scientific Management in Industry," ''American Journal of Nursing'' 1927, 27: 828–32. * Percy S. Brown, "Organization of the Manufacturing Division," in ''Handbook of Business Administration,'' ed. by William J. A. Donald (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., for the American Management Association, 1931), p. 54 * Brown, Percy S. "Post-War Objectives in Labor Relations." ''Public Opinion Quarterly'' 7.3 (1943): 369–377.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Percy S. 1883 births 1973 deaths American chemical engineers American industrial engineers American business executives Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni People from Elizabeth, New Jersey Engineers from New Jersey 20th-century American chemists 20th-century American engineers