R. Alec Mackenzie

TROY R. Alec Mackenzie, internationally known authority on time management from Greenwich, N.Y., died on July 3, 2004 in Troy, N.Y. He was 81 years old. Alec Mackenzie's best selling book, The Time Trap, first published in 1969, is described today by Amazon.com as The classic book on time management...based on the theory that self-management is the key to handling the time crunch that we all face.. Mr. Mackenzie was also the author of over 85 publications including the nationally distributed books, Managing Your Time, Time for Success and About Time: A Women's Guide to Time Management (co-authored with Kay Cronkite Waldo). In 1969, the Harvard Business Review published his The Management Process in 3-D, which describes the management process in a three dimensional model. The Harvard Business Review still publishes reprints of this work and describes it as demonstrating that the three major functions of management are conceptual thinking, of which planning is an essential part; administration, managing the details of executive affairs and leadership, influencing people to accomplish desired objectives. A graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the University of Iowa Law School, Mr. Mackenzie also created Time Tactics, a planner/organizer used for decades by executives around the world. Mr. Mackenzie was a frequent lecturer on time management in the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia. His great-grandfather, the abolitionist, Jonathan Blanchard, became the President of Knox College in Galesburg, Ill. in 1845 and in 1860, founded Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. His grandfather, Charles Blanchard was the President of Wheaton College from 1882 to 1925. He was the husband of the late Gay R. Mackenzie and is survived by a daughter, Melody Mackenzie and son-in-law, Philip Gitlen of Loudonville, N.Y.; a son, Mark Mackenzie of Albany; three grandchildren, Hillary Mackenzie Brown of Montreal, Quebec, Laurel Gitlen of Portland, Ore. and Max Gitlen of Providence, R.I.; three brothers, Harold Mackenzie of Wheaton, Ill., John Mackenzie of Clifton Park and Roger Mackenzie of Atlanta, Ga.; a sister, Dell Moffett of Carpenteria, Calif. and a large family of nephews and nieces. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. on July 6, 2004 at the Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, N.Y. Donations to the American Diabetes Association or the Fresh Air Fund will be appreciated, in lieu of flowers.