Anderson School professor dies at 87

Amy Frye
Published: Thursday, April 3, 2003

Friends, colleagues and students of Robert Tannenbaum, a renowned professor emeritus of the Anderson School at UCLA, are mourning his death this week and remembering all they learned from him.

Tannenbaum, called a “walking wise man” by a close friend, died on March 15 of congestive heart failure in his Carmel home. He was 87 and is survived by his wife of 58 years, Edith, two daughters and three grandchildren.

Tannenbaum was born in Cripple Creek, Colo. and was raised in Southern California. He was a Navy lieutenant during World War II, serving in the Pacific Islands. He later received his PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

While working at UCLA during the 1950s and through the 1970s he helped put The Anderson School on the map by developing theories and teaching practices in the then new field of organization and leadership development.

He was a pioneer in the development of T-groups, which were widely used in the 1960s and 1970s in sensitivity training for managers. In these group sessions, which lasted about a week, members of management would talk about themselves and learn how to reach a sensitivity about each other.

Sam Culbert, friend, colleague, and former student of the respected professor, said Tannenbaum thought people in leadership roles were effective to the extent that they were both aware of themselves as unique individuals and sensitive to their impact on people around them.

Culbert said during a time of change in the United States, when society was breaking loose with civil rights and women's movements, Tannenbaum was planting the idea that leadership was about people leading individuals and not categories.

“He saw everyone as a distinct individual and never put anyone in a category. Every person felt seen,” Culbert said about Tannenbaum’s skills as a teacher.

Culbert added Tannenbaum’s classes were always overcrowded, and students not only learned new ways to think of leadership by engaging in hands on exercises, but also gained personal growth.

In 1977 Tannenbaum retired from UCLA but continued to work in the management field by counseling executives and helping to develop a masters program in Organization Development at Pepperdine University.

He won numerous awards and honors throughout his career, but it was his impact on every individual he met that friends and co-workers remember most about him.

“He was the most loving man I’ve met in my whole life,” said Jean Coget, who, under his academic advisor’s advice, drove to Northern California on a pilgrimage to meet Tannenbaum.

Coget said his advisor told him, “If you want to meet God before he dies, go see Bob Tannenbaum.”

“He was kind of like a father to (my advisor) and I think he was like that to many people,” Coget said.

Susan Nero, who worked with Tannenbaum as his secretary, doctorate student and colleague said what she remembers about him was how amazing it was to travel with him.

“Wherever you would go, in airports people would come out of the woodwork, come up to him and say ‘you changed my life, I’ll never forget you,’” she said.

Nero said many people owe a lot to Tannenbaum because he was so generous with his support and impacted their lives in a profound way.

A memorial service will be held on June 29 at UCLA.