Leon C. Megginson

Leon C. Megginson (1921 - 2010) was a professor in the business school at Louisiana State University (1952-1977),

Megginson is often cited for his clarifying statement about evolution, which made him well-cited beyond the business school scholarly literature. Megginson stated: "It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the ones most adaptable to change."

Early life and education Megginson was born in Thomasville, Alabama, on July 26, 1921. His childhood education was in Thomasville and also in Mobile, Alabama. He served in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, initially as a second lieutenant and completed his commission in 1945 with the military rank of captain. Megginson was a pilot in the Eighth Air Force in England during the war, flying the P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft.

"According to Darwin's Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself." and most especially among people specializing in business management.

Subsequently, Megginson's statement was often mis-attributed to Charles Darwin.

Business scholarship Megginson articulated other principles of business management during his career. In a 1958 scholarly article in the Journal of the Academy of Management, Megginson stated principles of management that apply in many managerial situations including business management and extending to governments, religious organizations, and social organizations. These principles additionally are relevant at all managerial levels.

Honors Megginson was a Fulbright Scholar, residing in Spain, in 1961 - 1962, working in the fields of labor and industrial relations. Additionally, he served as a Ford Foundation resident advisor to Pakistan from 1968 to 1970, residing there during much of this time period. He was the United States representative to the UNIDO conference in 1971. Megginson was active in various professional societies, serving at times as president of the Southwestern Social Sciences Association, of the Southern Management Association, and the Case Research Association.

Personal life and death Megginson traveled extensively during the course of his career, documenting his travels with extensive photography. One of Megginson's three children, William Leon Megginson, also became a business school professor.

Megginson resided in Theodore, Alabama, for the last years of his life, where he was living at the time of his death. He is interred at Serenity Memorial Gardens in Theodore, Alabama.

Representative publications Megginson, Leon C., et al. Small Business Management: An Entrepreneur's Guidebook. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 2000. Megginson, Leon C. "Lessons from Europe for American business." The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly (1963): 3–13. Megginson, Leon C. "Management in Perspective Automation: Our Greatest Asset—Our Greatest Problem?." Academy of Management Journal 6.3 (1963): 232–244. Megginson, Leon C. "A Striving for Excellence." National Forum. Vol. 47. No. 3. Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, 1967. Megginson, Leon C. "The human consequences of office automation." Personnel 37.5 (1960): 18–26.