Viewing page 171 of 484

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[4 images - pictures of Naylor Fitzhugh speaking]]

Naylor Fitzhugh is reconized as the "dean" of black business. Following his natural inclination towards marketing, he enrolled in the Harvard Business School and graduated to become one of the first blacks to earn an MBA. Unrecruited by corporate scouts, Fitzhugh organized several business ventures and participated in boycotts aimed at ending economic injustices. He joined the faculty of Howard University in 1934 and remained there for 31 years to become the spiritual force of the Howard University School of Business, and the mentor of uncounted black business students. In 1965, Fitzhugh left the academic world and followed his students to the world of business. Fifty years after his graduation, he looks back with satisfaction on his life and work.

Naylor Fitzhugh has long believed that an understanding of business and economics is vital to black survival. But when he started the marketing program at Howard University in 1946, his tasks was to convince everyone else.

"Some of my colleagues thought marketing was shopping at the grocery store," he recalls.

Fitzhugh's greatest challenge was to prepare black business students to excel in a corporate world that was largely closed to them. But he never doubted that someday it would open. And when it did, his Howard alumni were ready to fill those positions.

The success of his students has brought the teacher great satisfaction. He says, "I can't explain the joy of seeing students go on to become outstanding achievers."

Because of Naylor Fitzhugh, blacks today have a lot more awareness and understanding of business. Scores of his student hold important positions in major corporations and the business world has become acutely aware of the black consumer as a major force in the marketplace.

Better communication is the key to a brighter future for all of us. And there is much we can learn from great communicators like Naylor Fitzhugh. The Bell System is proud to acknowledge their contribution to society. As pioneers in communications technology, the Bell System knows that better communications make a better world.

[[image - logo]] Bell System

[/[advertisement]]