Yousuf Karsh portraits of Harvard Business School faculty

In the Spring of 1958 internationally noted photographic portraitist Yousuf Karsh traveled to Harvard Business School to photograph prominent faculty members. Fifteen of the photographs taken by Karsh during this visit are represented in the collection. The remaining nine portrait photographs were taken at earlier and later dates. Karsh did extensive research on each professor before he met and photographed them and even sat in the classroom to get a better feel for his subjects. He felt the need to understand human nature in order to get to the core of the sitter's personality. The ability to understand the subject in such depth is what gave Karsh his skill and artistry. In an interview with The Harbus News, Karsh noted, "So many of the men here are tricky to photograph; for, they look and act like business administrators but underneath are competent scholars representing the academic world, and very importantly too!"

Some of the portraits were made possible through the generosity of Professor C. Leigh Stevens and at one time were displayed in both Aldrich and Hamilton Halls. A selection of the portrait photographs were on display in Kresge Hall during the Fiftieth Anniversary Conference in 1958. The portraits that were a gift of Professor Stevens included Joseph Cannon Bailey, Neil Hopper Borden, Theodore H. Brown, Melvin Thomas Copeland, Franklin Erton Folts, Arthur Warren Hanson, Windsor Arnold Hosmer, Howard Thompson Lewis, Malcolm P. McNair, Robert Louis Masson, Richard Stockton Meriam, Fritz J. Roethlisberger, Benjamin Morris Selekman, Sumner H. Slichter, Stanley F. Teele and Harry R. Tosdal.