Burleigh Bradford Gardner (December 4, 1902—January 12, 1988) was an American
social anthropologist, and Founding Chairman of Social Research Inc. of Chicago, Illinois,
[Burleigh B. Gardner]
in: Chicago Tribune News, January 14, 1988 known for its pioneering work in the field of
consumer motivation research and quantitative marketing research.
Biography
Dr. Gardner grew up in Falfurrias, Texas, after his family left Galveston following the Galveston Flood in which his father lost his business.
[John Easton]
Consuming Interests
in ''University of Chicago Magazine'', October 2001. He obtained his BA in engineering from the
University of Texas at Austin.
[Karesh, Michael A.]
The social scientific origins of symbolic consumer research: Social Research, Inc.
Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Historical Research in Marketing and Management Thought. 1995. He received a scholarship to Harvard University, where he first obtained his master's degree in Physical Anthropology under Earnest A. Hooton, then his PhD in Cultural Anthropology
[''Personnel Series''. nr 71-90 (1943). p.33] under the supervision of
W. Lloyd Warner
William Lloyd Warner (October 26, 1898 – May 23, 1970) was a pioneering anthropologist and sociologist noted for applying the techniques of British functionalism to understanding American culture.
Background
William Lloyd Warner was born in ...
.
In the late 1920s, Gardner started his work in social science as a field worker for Warner's Department of Industrial Research at the Harvard Graduate School of Business. In 1933 he began the study of the social organization of a rural Mississippi community, together with
Allison Davis and Mary R. Gardner. This resulted in 1941 of the classic book on race relations, ''Deep South: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class in a Southern City''.
During World War II he worked in the Personnel Department of Western Electric. His experience at Western Electric became the basis for the classic textbook, ''Human Relations in Industry,'' written together with David G. Moore.
In 1946, he founded the management consulting firm ''Social Research Inc.'' with several colleagues from the University of Chicago including Earl Kahn and Lee Rainwater. Early clients included Sears Roebuck & Company and the United States Air Force. He worked with psychologist
Carl Rogers, sociologist
W. Lloyd Warner
William Lloyd Warner (October 26, 1898 – May 23, 1970) was a pioneering anthropologist and sociologist noted for applying the techniques of British functionalism to understanding American culture.
Background
William Lloyd Warner was born in ...
and psychometrician
Benjamin Drake Wright among others. He was the chairman of Social Research from its beginning until 1984.
Furthermore, Dr. Gardner was assistant professor of Industrial Relations at the
University of Chicago, taught at Roosevelt University for many years, was board-member of the Duncan
YMCA in Chicago and member of the
American Marketing Association
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for marketing professionals with 30,000 members as of 2012. It has 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States.
The AMA was formed in from th ...
.
Work
Social Research Inc.
In 1946, Social Research Inc. (SRI) was founded by the Dr. Gardner together with
W. Lloyd Warner
William Lloyd Warner (October 26, 1898 – May 23, 1970) was a pioneering anthropologist and sociologist noted for applying the techniques of British functionalism to understanding American culture.
Background
William Lloyd Warner was born in ...
, and William Henry.
All three were on the faculty at the University of Chicago. Gardner had enough of academic life and resigned to become the full time Chairman of Social Research. SRI, as it became known, was founded to apply social science techniques to create new solutions for business problems.
Selected publications
Books:
*
Davis, Allison, Burleigh B. Gardner, and Mary R. Gardner. ''Deep south: A Social Anthropological Study of Caste and Class.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1941.
* Gardner, Burleigh Bradford, and David G. Moore. ''Human relations in industry''. RD Irwin, 1955.
*Gardner, Burleigh, ''A Conceptual Framework for Advertising,'' Crain Communications, Inc., Chicago, 1982.
Articles, a selection:
*
Whyte, William F., and Burleigh B. Gardner. "The position and problems of the foreman." ''Human Organization'' 4.2 (1945): 17–28.
* Gardner, Burleigh B., and
William Foote Whyte. "Methods for the study of human relations in industry." ''American Sociological Review'' 11.5 (1946): 506–512.
* Gardner, Burleigh B. "The factory as a social system." in:
Whyte, William Foote
William Foote Whyte (June 27, 1914 – July 16, 2000) was an American sociologist chiefly known for his ethnographic study in urban sociology, ''Street Corner Society''. A pioneer in participant observation, he lived for four years in an Ita ...
(Ed), (1946). ''Industry and society''. pp. 4–20.
* Gardner, Burleigh B., and Sidney J. Levy. "The product and the brand." ''Harvard Business Review'' 33.2 (1955): 33–39.
* Gardner, Burleigh B. "The package as a communication." ''Marketing for Tomorrow... Today'', Chicago: American Marketing Association 25 (1967): 117–118.
References
External links
Burleigh B. Gardner Chicago Tribune
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Burleigh B.
1902 births
1988 deaths
American business theorists
University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
University of Chicago faculty
20th-century American economists
20th-century American anthropologists