Abraham J. Siegel

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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Abraham Siegel Obituary

SIEGEL, Abraham J. Professor Emeritus of Economics and Dean Emeritus of the Sloan School of Management at MIT passed away on January 16 at the age of 88 with his close family at his side. A doting husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he is survived by his loving wife of 64 years, Lillian (Wakshull), his three children, Emily Stangle, Paul Siegel and Barbara Pugliese; son-in-law Bruce Stangle and daughter-in-law Darcy Siegel; his eight grandchildren, Alissa, Michela, Alexander, Derek, Carla, Oren, Micah and Daniel, grandchildren-in-law Jay, Neal and Caroline; and his seven great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his brother Frank and sisters-in-law Anne, Rose, Sara, and Evelyn, brother-in-law Sam, as well as many nieces and nephews. Services will be held on Thursday, January 20, 2011 at 11am at the Schlossberg & Solomon Memorial Chapel at 824 Washington St., CANTON, MA. In lieu of flowers, donations in Abe's memory may be made to Orchard Cove, 1 Del Pond Drive, Canton, MA 02021.

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Published by Boston Globe from Jan. 17 to Jan. 18, 2011.

Memories and Condolences
for Abraham Siegel

6 Entries

Arthur Bovarnick

March 3, 2011

March 3,2011

I was a senior at Brandeis in 1958 and DR. Seigel was giving a course in Labor Relations. He invited his students to use the Sloan Library and if necessary to discuss any issues with him at his office.

On one occasion I met with him and he invited me to have our discussion in the faculty lounge at which time he introduced me to my first "martini".

Subsequestly in view of my interest in pursuing an international career, he arranged for me to join MIT seniors that year interviewing with ITT.

I was hired by ITT and subsequently have spent the past almost 50 years involved with international business. So Dr. Seigel has had a very signifigant, profound and positive effect on my career and I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you.

Sincerely,
Arthur Bovarnick
London, England

Moses Mwariri

January 21, 2011

He never cared who received the credit, as a result, he achieved much in his brief and rewarding life.

Frank McLaughlin

January 20, 2011

In 1961 I began teaching at Boston College, although I hadn’t made much progress on my thesis. I had difficulty in particular with articulating or formulating the hypothesis needed to guide my investigations. In 1961 or 1962 the Tuesday Industrial Relations Seminar was given over to Solomon Levine of the University of Illinois who was visiting MIT that year. Levine was devoting the seminar to research methodology and i decided to sit in. At one session he focused on hypothesis formulation. After Levine had gone on for quite a while Abe spoke up and said.

Sol -

If all the world were apple pie
And all the sea were ink
And all the trees were bread and cheese
What would we have to drink?

Abe continued “ Sol, that’s an hypothesis - what would we have to drink? all the investigator needs is a question.”

My thesis work proceeded rapidly with the insight Abe provided in such an unforgettable way, because I did have a question, and with Abe’s indirectly provided advice I stopped fretting about hypothesis formulation.

This is just one of many reasons why i remember Abe with great fondness. May he rest in peace with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Paul Greenberg

January 19, 2011

As I indicated to Bruce when I heard the sad news, Abe (Dean Siegel to me) was the first official face of MIT-Sloan that I encountered many years ago, and he immediately made me proud to be counted among its students. I remember his learned and gentlemanly way, and how his personal style set the tone for the type of experience that I -- and many others -- would enjoy while there. In my subsequent interactions with him, I was always struck by his approachability, wisdom, and gentle touch, a combination that is rare indeed.