Thomas Lee Whisler

Background

Thomas Whisler was born on February 12, 1920 in Dayton, Ohio, United States. He was the son of Rolland Foster Whisler and Thelma (Wildasin) Whisler.

Education

Although Whisler initially intended to follow in the footsteps of his father who was an engineer, he quickly realized that was the wrong path and received a bachelor's degree in sociology from Miami University in his native Ohio in 1941.

During World War II, he served with the Navy for four years as a bomb-disposal officer aboard the USS Monterey in the Pacific Ocean.

He then received a master's and doctorate in economics at the University of Chicago in 1947 and 1953, respectively.

Career

After graduating from the university, Thomas Lee Whisler taught business from 1947 to 1953 at the University of Missouri.

He returned to the University of Chicago in 1953 and began teaching business policy to MBA students. Seven years later, he co-authored "Management Organization and the Computer" with George Schultz, followed by his writing "The Impact of Computers on Organizations" in 1970 and "Rules of the Game: Inside the Corporate Boardroom" in 1983.

As director of research for the school, Dr. Whisler maintained his initial research interest in economics and the business impact of computers, but he later studied performance-appraisal systems, corporate governance, board of directors issues and the governance of non-profit organizations.

Additionally, during the 1960s, Whisler was an instructor and consultant with the National Institute for Management Developing in Egypt and the Center for Productivity Study and Research at the University of Ghent in Belgium.

Achievements

• Thomas Lee Whisler was one of the first researchers to study the impact of computers on businesses and was best known for authoring "The Impact of Computers on Organizations" and "Rules of the Game: Inside the Corporate Boardroom".

Works

More photos

• book

  • The rules of the game: Inside the corporate board room 1983
  • Impact of Computers on Organizations 1970
  • Information technology and organizational change 1970

Personality

According to his wife Judy's words, Whisler was a very eclectic kind of guy. Besides, he was an insatiable reader who needed to know about everything, and he was very funny with a dry, wry sense of humor.

Quotes from others about the person

• Harry L. Davis: "I obviously have a great admiration for Tom. He was working on a research project when I was a doctoral student, and it was because of him that I ended up coming here to teach."
  
  Harry L. Davis: "He was a very committed teacher who had broad interests in topics that were very cutting-edge. For example, he was interested in the relationship, the impact of computers would be on organizations at the very early stages of the computer in the 1960s. He was looking at corporate governance 25 years ago... He was a very inquisitive and curious person. And of course in addition he was a great musician."

Interests

• literature, music and nature

Connections

Thomas Lee Whisler first met his first wife Ann when they were childhood neighbors, and they became reacquainted when she took a class at the University of Chicago. But the couple later divorced.

Whisler married his second wife Judith in 1979.

Thomas Whisler had a son, John; a daughter, Barbara Kwiecinski; two stepdaughters, Marissa Kalman and Julia Hernandez; and seven grandchildren.

Father:

Rolland Foster Whisler

Mother:

Thelma (Wildasin) Whisler

Spouse:

Judith Whisler

ex-spouse:

Ann Whisler

Son:

John Whisler

Daughter:

Barbara Kwiecinski

stepdaughter:

Marissa Kalman

stepdaughter:

Julia Hernandez

colleague:

Harry L. Davis

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Volume 154