The Historian’s Notebook: Shaping the Evolution of Modern Management
In a 1983 speech, philanthropist William S. Beinecke, who helped create Yale SOM, explains how the crises of the 20th century convinced him that the university should found a school of management.
The Historian’s Notebook: 50 Years of Business & Society is a blog series created in preparation for the 50th anniversary of Yale SOM in September 2026. The series is written by Yale SOM’s resident historian, Michelle Spinelli. Reach out if you have an idea for a blog post, memories or photos to share, or an inquiry about SOM history.
At Alumni Weekend in 1983, William S. Beinecke spoke to the Yale SOM Charter Class of 1978 about the decades of discussion and debate that led to the founding of the Yale School of Organization and Management, now known as Yale SOM. A businessman and philanthropist who served on the Yale Corporation for many years and helped shape many parts of the university, Mr. Beinecke was a driving force behind the school’s creation. Below is a short excerpt from his remarks. Read his speech in its entirety to learn more about how and why Yale finally established the Yale School of Organization and Management.
The story begins in the mid-1950s, with a growing conviction among a number of Yale alumni that Yale should give serious thought to establishing—as they called it—“a business school.”
For many—myself among them—this conviction was a product of personal experience. Following the outbreak of World War II, we had witnessed in the speeding up of U.S. business and industry, an often-swift evolution from single-product enterprises under the leadership and control of founding entrepreneurs or single families to public ownership, diversified product lines, and institutionalization that created a growing need for the organizational and operating techniques customarily referred to as “modern management.” We believed that this trend would continue to surge for years to come—as indeed it has. We felt that Yale could and should play a direct role in shaping a development of such obvious importance to the capitalistic system and our national life.
We were confident that Yale—being Yale—could make an equally and, in time, a uniquely valuable contribution to the education of managers, just as the Yale Schools of Medicine, Law, and Divinity had done for many generations of doctors, lawyers, and preachers.
