Marvin Bower

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Marvin Bower (born August 1, 1903 in Cincinnati, Ohio - died January 22, 2003 in Delray Beach, Florida). The son of the deputy recorder at Cuyahoga County, he grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and attended public schools there. He earned his bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1925. His father advised him to study law, and Bower graduated from Harvard Law School in 1928. After having been turned down for a position as an associate at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Cleveland, he attended Harvard Business School and graduated in 1930.

In 1933, Bower was hired by James O. McKinsey into the new Chicago firm of James O. McKinsey & Company. He managed a newly-acquired branch in New York. Following McKinsey's death in 1937, the two offices split up and Bower resurrected the New York firm, with the assistance of New York partners, as McKinsey & Company in 1939. He served as managing director from 1950 to 1967, and remained a leadership figure at McKinsey as director and partner until 1992.

According to the Harvard Business School [1], Bower "is considered the father of modern management consulting." His principled insistence on impeccable professional standards in substance, ethics, and style; his dedication to the professional development of his colleagues; and his candor, all served as a role model for several generations of management consultants, both within and outside McKinsey.

He published several books and articles, among them:

The Will to Lead: Running a Business With a Network of Leaders, ISBN 0-87584-758-7
The Will to Manage: Corporate Success Through Programmed Management, ISBN 0-07-006735-X
Perspective on McKinsey - internal McKinsey publication