Harold Bright Maynard

Harold Bright Maynard (Oct. 18, 1902 - Mar. 10, 1975) was an American industrial engineer, consulting engineer at the Methods Engineering Council, and management author. He is known as the "Broadway counsel for industries, railroads, state governments" and as recipient of the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal in 1964.

Life and work

Maynard was born in 1902 in Northampton, Massachusetts to William Clement Maynard and Edith Lucia (Clark) Maynard. He attended the Protestant Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1919. In 1923 he obtained his M.Sc. in mechanical engineering at Cornell University.

After his graduation in 1923 he started as a graduate student in the production steam division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation in Pittsburgh, where he was employed until 1929. From 1929 to 1934 he studied industrial problems in the U.S. and in Europe. In 1934 he founded the consulting firm Methods Engineering Council in Pittsburgh with Maynard as president.

In the year 1946-1947 Maynard served as president of the Society for Advancement of Management as successor of Raymond R. Zimmerman, and was succeeded by William L. McGrath.

In 1946 Maynard was awarded the Gilbreth Medal, which had been established in honour of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. In 1954 he received the Wallace Clark Award, and in 1964 the annual Henry Laurence Gantt Medal by the American Management Association and the ASME.