College of Arts and Sciences Executive Thinking Program Records, 1948-1984

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Seattle University. Executive Thinking Program
Title
College of Arts and Sciences Executive Thinking Program Records
Dates
1948-1984 (inclusive)
1958-1970 (bulk)
Quantity
4 linear feet, (4 boxes)
Collection Number
RG019.03 (collection)
Summary
The Executive Thinking Program, offered at Seattle University from 1958-1968, was a non-credit seminar designed for Seattle area business and professional leaders to hone their skills in communication, analyzing complex ideas, and to supplement their knowledge of economics, politics, and ethical thought. The collection includes correspondence, course materials, enrollment lists, typed and handwritten manuscripts of program director Thomas L. O'Brien, SJ , photographs, publicity brochures, newspaper articles and audio tapes.
Repository
Seattle University, Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, Special Collections
Special Collections
Lemieux Library & McGoldrick Learning Commons
Seattle University
901 12th Avenue
Seattle, WA
98122-1090
Telephone: 2062966209
Fax: 2062966224
speccoll@seattleu.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for preparing the finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Executive Thinking Program, offered at Seattle University from 1958-1968, was directed by Thomas J. O'Brien, SJ chair of the undergraduate Honors Program. The curriculum was patterned after similar seminars offered at Harvard University and in Aspen, Colorado. The program was a non-credit seminar for Seattle area business and professional leaders designed to hone their skills in communication, analyzing complex ideas, and to supplement their knowledge of economics, politics and ethical thought. The annual program emphasized culture and thought over management training skills. The seminar reading list centered on the Great Books, the Jesuit Ratio Studiorum, the Upanishads and Hindu philosophy, the Bible, Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, Newton, Descartes, Lock, Hegel, Marx and others. Participants engaged in dialogue with an emphasis on active listening to the ideas and opinions of others. The overall goal of the seminar was to promote a deeper understanding of self in order to create a more integrated and purposeful human being. Tuition was paid by firms employing the participants, including Seattle Trust and Savings Bank, Western Gear Corporation, Hydraulic Manufacturing Company, PACCAR, Sicks' Rainier Brewing Company, Overlake Transit Company, John Doyle Bishop Inc., Bell Telephone Company, Puget Sound Power and Light Company, Sears Roebuck, Western Hotels, Seattle First National Bank, and Boeing Airplane Company. When Father O'Brien was reassigned to San Francisco in 1968 the program languished. An initiative to revive the Executive Thinking Program at Seattle University in 1982, under Sister Rosaleen Trainor, CSJ was unsuccessful.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Executive Thinking Program collection includes correspondence, course materials, enrollment lists, Father OBrien's typed and handwritten manuscripts, publicity brochures and newspaper articles. Other materials include audio tapes, What's New In The Schoolhouse (from KOMO radio), Creative Communication by Thomas L. O'Brien, SJ, index cards naming enrolled executives, photographs, speeches, and reports. The bulk of the material cover 1960-1968 when Father O'Brien was director.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

College of Arts and Sciences Executive Thinking Program Records, Special Collections, Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons, Seattle University.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Executives--Training of--Washington (State)--Seattle

Personal Names

  • O'Brien, Thomas L., SJ

Corporate Names

  • Bell Telephone Company
  • Boeing Airplane Company
  • KOMO (Radio station : Seattle, Wash.)
  • PACCAR
  • Sears, Roebuck and Company
  • Seattle University. College of Arts and Sciences
  • Seattle University. Executive Thinking Program
  • Sicks' Rainier Brewing Company
  • Western International Hotels

Form or Genre Terms

  • Brochures
  • Card indexes
  • Clippings (Information artifacts)
  • Correspondence
  • Manuscripts for publication
  • Photographs
  • Reports
  • Sound recordings
  • Speeches

Titles within the Collection

  • What's new in the schoolhouse (Radio program)