Deceased August 22, 2009
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In Memory
By Barnes died on Aug. 22, 2009, at the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine, from complications from kidney failure. He was 81 years old.
A member of the HBS faculty for more than 40 years, at the time of his death he was the school’s John D. Black Professor Emeritus. By was born in St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 6, 1928. Before coming to Amherst, he was graduated from Phillips Andover Academy. He was a member of Phi Alpha Psi. After Amherst, he earned an M.B.A. in 1952 and a D.B.A. in 1958, both from Harvard. From 1952 to 1955, he taught at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. From 1975 to 1978, he was president of the Iran Center for Management Study. The bulk of his teaching career and expertise was in the disciplines of organizational behavior and entrepreneurial management.
With respect to his personal life, By wrote for our 50th Reunion book: “I flunked marriage and have two ex-wives . . .” His unions produced four children: one daughter who has died and another who is a professor and writer, and two sons, one a physician and the other an entrepreneur—Thomas ’81. Through these offspring, By has five grandchildren.
We remember By as a very bright and affable classmate and we, along with many others that he touched in his life, will miss him.
Willie McCormick ’50