A. K. Rice in America: Leadership and Legacy1

I'd like to begin by noting that A. K., whose influence on group relations theory and practice (he “wrote the book”, Rice, 1965), as well as his contributions to organizational theory in general (e.g., Rice, 1951, 1958, 1966, 1969, 1970; Miller and Rice, 1967), have, in my view, been honored more in the breach, and largely neglected. I would add further, that his extraordinary leadership probably, as much, if not more than any of his contemporaries, was responsible for both creating and disseminating what is now a robust body of theory and practice. However, rather than attempting to offer a comprehensive review of his contributions, I would like instead to briefly outline them, and focus on the ways he exercised his leadership in connection with introducing and nurturing this body of work in the United States, since it is that contribution to which I can speak from direct experience.

Before beginning, a few caveats are in order. First, the events I'll be describing happened a long time ago, and memory is often a great deceiver. In recollecting, therefore, I've located a number of people in both time and place. Not having the opportunity to check several of the facts, since many of those present at that time are no longer among us, it's quite possible some of the people mentioned have been slightly mislocated. For this I apologize in advance but can say with some assurance that these errors are quite minor, and in no measure substantively contravene my narrative of the events described below.

Perhaps more to point, talking about and writing about history is inevitably a deeply personal matter. Since Ken was for me an unabashed object of idealization, you must retain a healthy sense a skepticism about anything I say. This is my Ken Rice - everyone who knew him will have their own.

Almost all of us who had the privilege of knowing Ken Rice, or the greater privilege yet of working with him - and that that includes a