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Thomas K. McCraw

トーマス・ケー・マクロー

Thomas K. McCraw

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-09-11 （Corinth, Mississippi, United States）
Died
2012-11-03 （Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States） age 72
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Corinth, Mississippi, United States (birthplace) → Florence, Alabama, United States (high school) → Madison, Wisconsin, United States (graduate studies) → Austin, Texas, United States (University of Texas at Austin) → Belmont, Massachusetts, United States (residence) → Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (deceased)

Career

Occupations
business historian, historian, professor, author
Active Years
1967-2012
Affiliations
Harvard Business School, University of Texas at Austin, Massachusetts Historical Society, Nomura School of Advanced Management (advisory board, Tokyo)
Memberships
Massachusetts Historical Society
Influenced By
Alfred D. Chandler Jr., Joseph Schumpeter
Influenced
Harvard Business School students and scholars, business historians

Education

University of Mississippi
Degree: BA
Period: 1958-1962
Year of Graduation: 1962
Country: United States
Attended on an ROTC scholarship
University of Wisconsin–Madison
History
Degree: PhD
Period: 1966-1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Served as a teaching assistant 1967–1969

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for History
1985
Work: Prophets of Regulation: Charles Francis Adams, Louis D. Brandeis, James M. Landis, Alfred E. Kahn
Category: 歴史
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board (Columbia University)
Result: 受賞
Thomas Newcomen Award
1986
Work: Prophets of Regulation
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Morgan versus Lilienthal: The Feud within the TVA

1970 business history

A study of conflicts within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), analyzing internal power struggles and debates over public works and policy.

public workspolicy disputesorganizational historyinfrastructure development

Prophets of Regulation: Charles Francis Adams, Louis D. Brandeis, James M. Landis, Alfred E. Kahn

1984 business history / regulatory history

Uses biography to explore the history and economic significance of regulation in the United States, tracing how key regulators shaped policy.

regulationeconomic policybiographical analysispublic policy

The Essential Alfred Chandler: Essays Towards a Historical Theory of Business

1988 edited volume / business history

An edited collection of Alfred D. Chandler's key essays, presenting theoretical frameworks for business and organizational history.

business historyorganizational theoryhistorical theory

Creating Modern Capitalism: How Entrepreneurs, Companies, and Countries Triumphed in Three Industrial Revolutions

1997 business history

A broad account of how entrepreneurs, companies, and nations shaped and advanced capitalism across three industrial revolutions; developed from a widely used MBA course.

development of capitalismentrepreneurshipindustrial revolutionsinstitutional history

The Intellectual Venture Capitalist: John H. McArthur and the Work of the Harvard Business School

1999 biography / institutional history

A study of John H. McArthur's career and the influence of Harvard Business School as an educational institution.

history of educationleadershipinstitutional history

American Business, 1920-2000: How It Worked

2000 economic history / business history

An overview of how American business operated across the 20th century, analyzing the interplay of regulation, markets, and corporate strategy.

20th-century historycorporate strategymarkets and regulation

Prophet of Innovation: Joseph Schumpeter and Creative Destruction

2007 biography / history of economic thought

A biographical study of Joseph Schumpeter and his theories, with emphasis on the concept of 'creative destruction' and its intellectual history.

innovationhistory of economic thoughtbiography

The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy

2012 economic history

Examines how figures like Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin, along with other immigrants, helped forge America's early financial system.

financial historyfounding-era economyrole of immigrants

Bibliography

  • Morgan versus Lilienthal: The Feud within the TVA (1970)
  • Prophets of Regulation (1984)
  • The Essential Alfred Chandler (ed., 1988)
  • Creating Modern Capitalism (1997)
  • The Intellectual Venture Capitalist (1999)
  • American Business, 1920-2000 (2000)
  • Prophet of Innovation (2007)
  • The Founders and Finance (2012)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
scholarly yet accessible prosecomparative biographical approachsystematic, lecture-derived exposition
Recurring Motifs
regulation and the role of governmentformation and transformation of capitalismentrepreneurship and innovationhistory of institutions and organizations

Health

  • heart and lung problems
    晩年
    Reportedly contributed to his death

Legacy

Thomas K. McCraw left influential scholarly and popular works in business history, shaped generations of students through his MBA course 'Creating Modern Capitalism', and helped popularize business history. He was recognized with the 1985 Pulitzer Prize and contributed to research and teaching at Harvard Business School.

Academic Societies

  • Massachusetts Historical Society

Archives

  • Harvard Business School Archives (Baker Library)

In Popular Culture

  • EconTalk interview (2007)

Quotes

  • "Mr. McCraw explains sophisticated economic theory in accessible terms, and he has a historian's knack for isolating such basic American traits as a mistrust of big business and for showing how regulators manipulated these traits to implement their policies."
    Source: The New York Times Book Review (1984)

Trivia

  • Graduated University of Mississippi in 1962 on an ROTC scholarship and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy from 1962–1966.
  • Served as assistant and associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin before joining Harvard Business School in 1978.
  • Created the MBA course 'Creating Modern Capitalism' at Harvard; its syllabus became widely used as a textbook.
  • Married childhood sweetheart Susan Morehead in 1962 and had three children.
  • Suffered from heart and lung problems in later life and died in Cambridge in 2012.