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Roger W. Babson*

Roger W. Babson*
President
Babson's Statistical Service

Class Year: 1955

"More and more I see the need both of courage to stand fast and the willingness to change. A successful life demands a proper mixture of them both. One is the lock and the other is the key; either without the other becomes useless."

The son of a dry goods store owner, Roger Babson was born in 1875 in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1895 to 1898, where he studied engineering. He worked for a time after graduation as an investment banker, but contracted tuberculosis in 1901. With dogged determination he fought the disease, but had to find a way to work from home. He developed a central clearinghouse for information on investment and business conditions. The Babson's Reports revolutionized the financial services industry and made Roger Babson wealthy. He became an economic forecaster and predicted the 1929 stock market crash and the Depression that followed. In 1919, he founded the Babson Institute, which specialized in business education. The school was renamed Babson College in 1969 and continues to thrive. He once said, "More than knowledge for success, young people need those basic qualities of integrity, industry, common sense, and a willingness to struggle."

Roger W. Babson*

Roger W. Babson* President Babson's Statistical Service Class Year: 1955

Roger W. Babson*
President
Babson's Statistical Service

Class Year: 1955