Thomas Harrell, 90; Stanford Researcher, Professor Emeritus

Thomas W. Harrell, 90, professor emeritus of applied psychology at Stanford University, died April 17 in Portola Valley, Calif., of complications from colon cancer.

An expert on the personality traits of successful people in business, Harrell spent much of his career studying the lives of Stanford MBAs who graduated from 1961 to 1965. His periodic studies of the group indicated that high-wage earners tended to be communicative, outgoing, energetic and athletic.

Harrell also researched the disparities between men and women in the workplace with MBAs, noting in the early 1990s that women were earning less, getting fewer promotions and reporting less job satisfaction than their male counterparts.

In 1991, he reported that marriage helped the careers of men but failed to do the same for women.

Born in Troup County, Ga., Harrell earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Georgia and his master’s and doctorate at Johns Hopkins.

He served in the Army during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He started his academic career at the University of Illinois before joining the faculty at Stanford in 1952.