Correction appended
Tuck School of Business management professor emeritus James Brian Quinn, remembered as a brilliant thinker and dedicated teacher, died on Aug. 28 due to complications related to a previous stroke, his wife Allie Quinn said. He was 84 years old.
Described by some students as the greatest teacher they had ever encountered, Quinn is known by many as a teacher, a mentor and a friend, his former student Jack Tankersley Tu'74 said. Quinn was initiated as an honorary member of the Tuck Class of 1974, he said.
"I think it's fair to say he's the most beloved professor amongst the Tuck alumni," Bill Achtmeyer Tu'81, a student who took all three of Quinn's courses, said.
Quinn was born in Memphis, Tenn., in 1928. After graduating from Yale University in 1949, he earned an MBA from Harvard in 1951 and a PhD from Columbia in 1958, according to an obituary by Tuck Dean Paul Danos. Quinn began his career at Tuck in 1957, teaching business policy and entrepreneurship as the William and Josephine Buchanan professor of management.
Quinn used his experience in business policy both inside and outside of Dartmouth for various projects. He was a member of a team that traveled to China in 1979 to coordinate the opening of Sino-American trade relations, as well as part of a group that advised the Gorbachev government in Russia on market capitalism strategies in 1989, according to Danos.
Quinn believed that a business's most important asset is the intelligence it has at its disposal and discussed the challenge of harnessing this intelligence in his 1992 book "Intelligent Enterprise," Allie Quinn said.
Upon his retirement from Tuck in 1993, over 50 of Quinn's former students contributed donations to fund an endowed chair in his honor, Tankersley said. This type of professorship is unique because named chairs are normally funded by large corporations, not groups of students, Tuck professor emeritus Victor McGee said. Quinn considered the gift one of his greatest honors, his wife said. The J. Brian Quinn Professorship in Technology and Strategy is currently held by professor Constance Helfat, according to Danos.
An innovative thinker known for sporting a bow tie, Quinn was seen as "the rock star professor at the time," according to Achtmeyer.
Quinn, an icon in the Tuck community, controlled his classroom with a quiet voice, Achtmeyer said.
Determined to ensure that his students were consistently prepared for class, he was also famous for holding unexpected exams in class.
These pop quizzes known as "blue eagles" kept his students on their toes, Andy Steele Tu'79, executive director of development and alumni services, said.
Students "killed themselves" preparing for Quinn's classes, but knew that he would help them in whatever way he could, according Jon Cohen '60 Tu'61.
Quinn's brilliance and dynamism captivated his students, Tankersley said.
"You walked out of every class understanding you had just witnessed something very special," he said.
Quinn pioneered entrepreneurship education in business school, according to Tankersley. Instead of a textbook, Quinn brought a number of entrepreneurs to class to share their experiences with his students.
"When he started teaching [entrepreneurship], there were a few people that knew the word, but no one could spell it," Tankersley said.
Quinn impacted his students long after they left his classroom because his courses were challenging and relevant to real world business experience, RBC Daniels Chairman and CEO Brian Deevy '77 Tu'78 said.
Students that took Quinn's business policy and entrepreneurship classes with Deevy 35 years ago continue to discuss them today, he said.
Quinn assisted a number of entrepreneurs in getting their companies off the ground, his wife said. Achtmeyer said he appreciated Quinn's guidance when he established the Parthenon Group, a consulting firm.
Quinn was a born teacher and out-of-the box thinker who was constantly searching for solutions to world problems, Allie Quinn said.
"He was not the economist concerned about how you help people make money for themselves, but instead how you bring new approaches to the world and how you innovate," she said.
Quinn was also devoted to community service, Allie Quinn said. He was extremely involved in helping Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center plan its Lebanon, N.H., location, served on the board of the Hanover Conservancy and helped establish the Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, Vt., she said.
He is survived by his wife Allie Quinn and his children James Quinn, Brad Quinn and Virginia Quinn, as well three grandchildren and one great-grandchild, according to Danos.
A funeral service will be held on Oct. 28 in Alumni Hall, according to Steele.
