 Picture courtesy of Elizabeth Handy |
Episode 2: Charles Handy - biography
Charles Handy was born in Kildare, Ireland, in 1932 and was educated in England and in the United States. He graduated from Oriel College, Oxford, with first-class honours in 'Greats', a study of classics, history and philosophy. After college, Handy worked for Shell International in South-East Asia and London and then entered the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Here Handy met Warren Bennis, Chris Argyris, Ed Schein and Mason Haire, and became interested in organizations and how they work.
He returned to England in 1967 to manage the Sloan Programme at Britain's first Graduate Business School in London. In 1972, Handy became a full Professor at the School, specializing in managerial psychology.
From 1977 to 1981, Handy worked at a conference and study centre in Windsor Castle which was concerned with ethics and values in society.
He was chairman of the Royal Society of Arts in London from 1987 to 1989 and holds honorary doctorates from seven British Universities. He is known to many in Britain for his 'Thoughts for Today' on the BBC Radio Today programme.
Handy and his wife Elizabeth, who is also his business partner, have two adult children and share their time between homes in England and Italy.
Bibliography:
'Understanding Organizations', London 1976 Penguin
'The Future of Work', Oxford 1984 Basil Blackwell
'Gods of Management', London 1986 Business Books
'The Making of Managers', London 1988 Longman
'The Age of Unreason', London 1989 Business Books
'The Empty Raincoat', London1994 Hutchinson
'The Hungry Spirit', London 1997 Hutchinson
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