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Founding of the HBS Century Club in 1933
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The founding of the HBS Century Club in 1933 was the result of several things. One was the mess the country was in - the Great Depression. I still remember Professor Philip Cabot, a great teacher and a great man not given to exaggeration, telling us at the School that this could be the end of our way of life and our freedom.
Another factor was my background. My family had come to America after escaping the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks during World War 1. We loved America, felt Indebted to it, and were saddened by what was happening to It. My years at Harvard College, where I majored in American history and had attended lectures by great teachers such as Professors Kittredge, Whitehead, Lake and Perry, had made me love America even more and given me an overall picture of the country and its problems.
A third factor was the outlook of the Business School at that time. It seemed so parochial, interested only in competence in business and unaware of the importance to business of competence in government and handling of national problems. And here was a top grade student body many of whom would one day achieve positions of power. Yet nothing was being done to interest them in our national problems and to help them learn how to determine the nature of those problems and the appropriate remedies. (I might add that when I was the President of the HBS Club of Washington in 1949, the School was still ignoring this. We worked very hard, fortunately with some success, to change its ways.)
All of these things led me to decide that a group should be formed to concern itself with our national problems - to identify them and consider solutions for them.
I discussed my ideas with Professors John Gurney Callan and Georges Doriot, both of whom I admired. They encouraged me to go ahead with my plans. Before the formation of the group was announced, I heard a rumor that the Dean was about to prohibit any more new clubs because he felt that the students had too heavy a schedule to take on additional Interests. At that point, I asked Professor Callan to be our Honorary President and Professor Dorlot to be our first speaker. They agreed.
Thus one night in 1933, without any formal announcement of the formation of the Club, a group of about eight of us sat around a table at the Faculty Club and had our first meeting. I was president and Professor Dorlot was our speaker.
I must confess I do not remember exactly what we called the group. That was not important. But it was not based on or connected with any previous club at the School or any similar club outside the School. I must admit we did not know how long the group would last, especially since the Dean's office was against it.
So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised and delighted I am that the Club has survived and prospered and become a Club of great distinction and accomplishment. (The current president's) plan to have the alumni play an active roll will make the Club even more successful in the future. We all owe a debt of gratitude to all those who nurtured the Club through the years and to the student member who have made this 50th Anniversary Celebration possible.
Editor's note: The HBS Century Club will proudly celebrate its 85th anniversary in 2018. The Club continues to provide a forum for outstanding Harvard MBA second-year students to address the great issues of the day with distinguished national and world leaders.
Another factor was my background. My family had come to America after escaping the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks during World War 1. We loved America, felt Indebted to it, and were saddened by what was happening to It. My years at Harvard College, where I majored in American history and had attended lectures by great teachers such as Professors Kittredge, Whitehead, Lake and Perry, had made me love America even more and given me an overall picture of the country and its problems.
A third factor was the outlook of the Business School at that time. It seemed so parochial, interested only in competence in business and unaware of the importance to business of competence in government and handling of national problems. And here was a top grade student body many of whom would one day achieve positions of power. Yet nothing was being done to interest them in our national problems and to help them learn how to determine the nature of those problems and the appropriate remedies. (I might add that when I was the President of the HBS Club of Washington in 1949, the School was still ignoring this. We worked very hard, fortunately with some success, to change its ways.)
All of these things led me to decide that a group should be formed to concern itself with our national problems - to identify them and consider solutions for them.
I discussed my ideas with Professors John Gurney Callan and Georges Doriot, both of whom I admired. They encouraged me to go ahead with my plans. Before the formation of the group was announced, I heard a rumor that the Dean was about to prohibit any more new clubs because he felt that the students had too heavy a schedule to take on additional Interests. At that point, I asked Professor Callan to be our Honorary President and Professor Dorlot to be our first speaker. They agreed.
Thus one night in 1933, without any formal announcement of the formation of the Club, a group of about eight of us sat around a table at the Faculty Club and had our first meeting. I was president and Professor Dorlot was our speaker.
I must confess I do not remember exactly what we called the group. That was not important. But it was not based on or connected with any previous club at the School or any similar club outside the School. I must admit we did not know how long the group would last, especially since the Dean's office was against it.
So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised and delighted I am that the Club has survived and prospered and become a Club of great distinction and accomplishment. (The current president's) plan to have the alumni play an active roll will make the Club even more successful in the future. We all owe a debt of gratitude to all those who nurtured the Club through the years and to the student member who have made this 50th Anniversary Celebration possible.
Editor's note: The HBS Century Club will proudly celebrate its 85th anniversary in 2018. The Club continues to provide a forum for outstanding Harvard MBA second-year students to address the great issues of the day with distinguished national and world leaders.
Obituary of Arthur H. Dadian in the Washington Post, published February 19, 1987:
Arthur H. Dadian, 77, a retired lawyer and a former chairman of the Armenian Collection of the Library of Congress and president of the Armenian Students Association, died of cancer Feb. 14 at his home in Bethesda.
Mr. Dadian was born in Armenia. He came to this country in 1921 and settled in Watertown, Mass. He graduated from Harvard and the Harvard Business School and he later received a law degree from Georgetown University.
In 1936, he moved to Washington and went to work for the Labor Department. Subsequently he worked for the Maritime Commission and the old War Labor Board. In the late 1940s he established a private law practice from which he retired in the 1970s.
Mr. Dadian was a member of the Business Executive Advisory Council to the White House during the Johnson administration. He also was a former president of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington. Survivors include his wife, Marjorie, of Bethesda. Obituary © 1987 The Washington Post Company
Arthur H. Dadian, 77, a retired lawyer and a former chairman of the Armenian Collection of the Library of Congress and president of the Armenian Students Association, died of cancer Feb. 14 at his home in Bethesda.
Mr. Dadian was born in Armenia. He came to this country in 1921 and settled in Watertown, Mass. He graduated from Harvard and the Harvard Business School and he later received a law degree from Georgetown University.
In 1936, he moved to Washington and went to work for the Labor Department. Subsequently he worked for the Maritime Commission and the old War Labor Board. In the late 1940s he established a private law practice from which he retired in the 1970s.
Mr. Dadian was a member of the Business Executive Advisory Council to the White House during the Johnson administration. He also was a former president of the Harvard Business School Club of Washington. Survivors include his wife, Marjorie, of Bethesda. Obituary © 1987 The Washington Post Company