U. mourns second-ever black prof hired at Penn

Howard Mitchell, the second African-American professor hired by the University, an outspoken civil rights leader and a loyal supporter of Penn athletics, died last Friday of cardiac arrest at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was 78. In his nearly 37 years as a member of the Management Department faculty, Mitchell made an exceptionally large number of contributions to the field of human resource management and to the University as a whole -- including the establishment of the prestigious Human Resource Center, which he directed until 1985. "He was an inspiring teacher and a role model to all," Management Department Chairperson Harbir Singh said in a statement. But most of Mitchell's close friends will miss the human resource expert's human touch. "Mitchell was well known and a popular figure who was always willing to lend you an ear," long-time friend Mo Szporn said. Penn men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy recalled how Mitchell -- a former Negro League baseball player and standout college athlete at Boston University, where he played football, basketball and baseball -- related to the Quakers team. "Everybody on the team always felt comfortable going to him because of his way, his style," Dunphy said. "If a particular player might be having a rough time, whether in basketball or personally or academically, you could always count on him to sit down with somebody and talk about this stage in their life." And Carlos Bonner, chairperson of the African American MBA Student Association's Whitney M. Young Conference, pointed out the important example he set for minority students today. "Howard Mitchell meant a lot to a great number of African-American students at Wharton," the second-year MBA student said, noting that a Wharton minority scholarship fund bears Mitchell's name. "He is definitely a role model to many of us through his work and achievements. According to Management Professor Peter Cappelli, Mitchell helped "redesign the human side of public transportation systems," improving operations in a number of major American cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. "Mitchell was really ahead of his time because of the focus he had on making jobs more enriching for people, which only recently has become popular," Capelli said. "Howard was doing that 15 years ago." In addition to writing more than 50 professional and academic papers, Mitchell continued to apply his knowledge to the real world. His consultations continued through the early 1990s, including a $90 million redesign of the New York City Transit control centers. And in 1983, he and his wife Nadine founded the labor consulting firm Mitchell and Mitchell Associates, which received the U.S. Department of Transportation's 1990 Minority Business Enterprises Award. While Mitchell's understanding of human dynamics was truly innovative in the management field, it was perhaps a natural outgrowth for the one-time psychologist and social activist. After earning a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Penn in 1950, Mitchell began his teaching career in 1955 as an assistant professor in Psychiatry in the Medical School. In 1963, Mitchell was appointed associate director of the Philadelphia Council for Community Advancement and the focus of his career began to shift from psychology to urban activism, when he led a study examining the social problems affecting North Philadelphia. A year later, Mitchell helped settle a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People strike protesting unfair employment practices toward blacks. The experience led him to establish the Human Resources Center at Penn, which was set up to help organize hundreds of freelance student volunteers to work on a variety of community service projects. In 1967, the University gave Mitchell an endowed chair in urbanism and human resources when he joined the faculty of the City and Regional Planning Department. And he became a member of Wharton's Management Department five year's later, where he remained until 1992. A resident of Center City for more than 50 years, Mitchell is survived by Nadine, son Howard and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Christ Church, located at Second and Market streets. Daily Pennsylvanian Sports Editor Rick Haggerty contributed to this article.

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