Thomas Childs Cochran (April 29, 1902 – May 2, 1999) was an American

economic historian Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and ins ...

. He was the author of several books. He is considered a pioneer in that field.

Early life

Thomas C. Cochran was born on April 29, 1902, in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

before obtaining his doctorate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Career

Cochran taught at N.Y.U. for almost twenty-five years before joining the University of Pennsylvania in 1950, where he became Benjamin Franklin Professor of History, a position from which he retired in 1972. He was also president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

in that year. In the mid-20th century, Cochran was one of the most significant economic historians of the United States, producing ''The Age of Enterprise'' (1961), an important work on the history of American capitalism. Throughout his career, he attempted to examine the history of business not merely as a narrowly economic topic, but also as a cultural one. He opened up new methodological approaches and areas of research in the field of economic history.

Personal life and death

Cochran was married three times. He died on May 2, 1999, at the Quadrangle Retirement Center in

Haverford, Pennsylvania Haverford is an unincorporated community located in both Haverford Township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, and Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County, approximately west of Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) open ...

Works

*''The Pabst Brewing Company: The History of an American Business'' (1948) *''Railroad Leaders: The Business Mind in Action'' (1953) *''The American Business System: A Historical Perspective, 1900–1955'' (1957) *''A Basic History of American Business'' (1959) *''The Age of Enterprise'' (1961) *''Railroad Leaders 1845–1890: The Business Mind in Action'' (1965) *''Business in American Life'' (1972) *''Frontiers of Change: Early Industrialism in America'' (1981) *''Challenges to American Values: Society, Business and Religion'' (1985)

References

External links

*
History and Cultural Crisis
', 1972 presidential address at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cochran 1902 births 1999 deaths Economic historians Business historians New York University alumni New York University faculty People from Manhattan Presidents of the American Historical Association University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Pennsylvania faculty 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers Historians from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers