N. S. B. Gras
Norman Scott Brien Gras (1884–1956), known as N. S. B. Gras, was a Canadian professor at the Harvard Business School who invented the academic discipline of business history.
N. S. B. Gras | |
|---|---|
| Born | Norman Scott Brien Gras 1884 |
| Died | October 9, 1956 (aged 71–72) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | The Evolution of the English Corn Market, 1100–1700 (1912) |
| Doctoral advisor | Edwin F. Gay |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | History |
| Sub-discipline | Business history |
| Institutions | |
| Notable ideas | Business history |
Early life
Gras was born in 1884 in Toronto, Ontario.[1] He graduated from the University of Western Ontario.[1] He went on to receive a PhD in economics from Harvard University.[1]
Career
Gras taught economics at the University of Minnesota.[2]
Gras was appointed as Professor of Business History by Dean Wallace Brett Donham in 1927.[2][3] He invented this new academic discipline, which only existed as his job title at the time.[2] From the outset, Gras made sure to draw a distinction between economic history and business history.[3] For Gras, economic history failed to focus on the role of the businessman as well as the role of business administration.[3] Instead, the main goal of business history was to highlight those two components in the history of corporations and business developments.[3]
Gras served as the president of the Business History Foundation.[4] He was the founder and editor of the Journal of Economic and Business History.[4] He was also the editor of the Harvard Studies of Business History.[4]
Death
Gras died in 1956.[1]
Works
- Gras, N. S. B. (1918). The Early English Customs System: A Documentary Study of the Institutional and Economic History of the Customs from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 3077330.
- Gras, N. S. B. (1922). An Introduction to Economic History. New York: Harper & Bros. OCLC 4625645.
- Gras, N. S. B. (1925). A History of Agriculture in Europe and America. New York: F.S. Crofts & Co. OCLC 2138695.
- Gras, N. S. B. (1930). Industrial Evolution. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 1187223.
- Gras, N. S. B.; Pforzheimer, Carl H. (1937). The Massachusetts First National Bank of Boston, 1784-1934. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. OCLC 2490681.
- Gras, N. S. B.; Larson, Henrietta M. (1939). Casebook in American History. New York: F.S. Crofts & Co. OCLC 4139275.
- Gras, N. S. B. (1939). Business and Capitalism: An Introduction to Business History. New York: F.S. Crofts & Co. OCLC 2167414.
References
- ^ a b c d "Gras, N. S. B." Encyclopedia.com. International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. 1968. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
- ^ a b c "Norman Scott Brien Gras, 1884-1956". The Business History Review. 30 (4): 357–360. December 1956. doi:10.2307/3111713. JSTOR 3111713.
- ^ a b c d Wohl, R. Richard (June 1954). "The Significance of Business History". The Business History Review. 28 (2): 128–140. doi:10.2307/3111488. JSTOR 3111488.
- ^ a b c Postan, M. M. (1957). "N. S. B. Gras--A Memoir". The Economic History Review. 9 (3): 485. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1957.tb00679.x. JSTOR 2591139.