The following messages were received to further tribute the work of Pat Denault:
Tribute to Pat Denault by Richard R. John, Columbia University.
On the occasion of her retirement, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of praise, respect, and admiration for Pat Denault. Pat’s contributions to business history over the years have been so numerous and so consequential that it would be a fool’s errand to try to enumerate them all. But let me mention three:
A message from JoAnne Yates,
Pat, you have been an integral part of BHC for as long as I can remember. I started attending BHC in the early- to mid-1980s, and you were always part of my good memories of the organization. You have always played a key role in the backstage, keeping the meetings and between-meeting communication flowing. When we moved to electronic communication and the Web as a base for information and communication, you mastered that technology to become, in your final official position at BHC, the editor for The Exchange. But always, you have performed many unofficial functions for BHC, as well. You have been the master of what social scientists call “articulation work,” all the invisible, connecting work in the interstices between visible structures and processes, without which the organization and its processes could not function. Only when you leave will some of this articulation work become visible, as new people discover and pick it up.
When I learned at the 2018 meeting that you would not attend the 2019 or future meetings, I was so sorry. You have been a key part of what made me feel I belonged in BHC from the beginning. Your welcoming presence has no doubt made many others feel the same way. It will be hard to attend the BHC meeting without you this year.
Pat, thank you for always being there and making me and many others feel welcome while assuring that everything functioned smoothly. I don’t know what we will do without you! You have my best wishes for your retirement from BHC.
A message from Ed Balleisen,
For so many years, Pat Denault has been a key reason for the strength of the BHC community. She knows everyone and has been so diligent in scouring for intelligence about goings-on of interest to business historians. Some people just have a knack for becoming a key node in a network. Pat is one of those individuals. But few have developed as robust a set of connections as Pat, or have demonstrated such great good sense and judgment in evaluating what sort of news deserves amplification through an outlet like ‘The Exchange.’ We are all so greatly in Pat’s debt.
A message from Margaret Levenstein,
Pat, you have been an integral part of BHC for as long as I can remember. I started attending BHC in the early- to mid-1980s, and you were always part of my good memories of the organization. You have always played a key role in the backstage, keeping the meetings and between-meeting communication flowing. When we moved to electronic communication and the Web as a base for information and communication, you mastered that technology to become, in your final official position at BHC, the editor for The Exchange. But always, you have performed many unofficial functions for BHC, as well. You have been the master of what social scientists call “articulation work,” all the invisible, connecting work in the interstices between visible structures and processes, without which the organization and its processes could not function. Only when you leave will some of this articulation work become visible, as new people discover and pick it up.
When I learned at the 2018 meeting that you would not attend the 2019 or future meetings, I was so sorry. You have been a key part of what made me feel I belonged in BHC from the beginning. Your welcoming presence has no doubt made many others feel the same way. It will be hard to attend the BHC meeting without you this year.
Pat, thank you for always being there and making me and many others feel welcome while assuring that everything functioned smoothly. I don’t know what we will do without you! You have my best wishes for your retirement from BHC.
A message from Ed Balleisen,
For so many years, Pat Denault has been a key reason for the strength of the BHC community. She knows everyone and has been so diligent in scouring for intelligence about goings-on of interest to business historians. Some people just have a knack for becoming a key node in a network. Pat is one of those individuals. But few have developed as robust a set of connections as Pat, or have demonstrated such great good sense and judgment in evaluating what sort of news deserves amplification through an outlet like ‘The Exchange.’ We are all so greatly in Pat’s debt.
A message from Margaret Levenstein,
Dear Pat, Congratulations and best wishes on your retirement, if it has truly arrived! It has been quite wonderful working with you in your many post-retirement responsibilities over the last two decades. It is hard to imagine that you won't take on some new and exciting project that opens new vistas for business history. Many, many thanks for all you have done and for the many pleasures of working with you. Warmly, Maggie Levenstein
A message from Susan Ingall Lewis,
Pat, you always made me feel welcome and valued from my first BHC conference to the most recent. Thank you for your consistent good cheer and encouragement. They made a difference to me and many others.
A message from Richard John,
Tribute to Pat Denault by Richard R. John, Columbia University.
On the occasion of her retirement, I would like to add my voice to the chorus of praise, respect, and admiration for Pat Denault. Pat’s contributions to business history over the years have been so numerous and so consequential that it would be a fool’s errand to try to enumerate them all. But let me mention three:
Pat the editor: I first met Pat in 1985 when I helped recruit her to succeed me as managing
editor of the Business History Review. During the next few years, it was Pat--largely on her own initiative--who undertook the vital, challenging and administratively daunting task of bringing the BHR into the digital age. Pat would go on to serve with distinction for the next decade as associate editor of the BHR—where she helped to broaden the field’s self-conception and to expand its intellectual range. Pat has the instincts of a master history—a gift that has led her to collaborate in a number of important historical projects within and outside of business history. These include, in addition to her editorial work at the BHR and the Business History Conference website (for which she was founding editor), her co-editorship, with Bernard Bailyn, of Soundings in Atlantic History: Latent Structure and Intellectual Currents, 1500-1830 (Harvard University Press 2009).
Pat the diplomat: Pat has a first-class temperament, an aptitude that has helped the Business History Conference to navigate for a quarter century through a thicket of administrative, logistical, and editorial tangles. Everyone who has worked with her has been impressed by her thoughtfulness, resourcefulness, and tact.
Pat the colleague: Pat’s presence for many years at the annual meetings of the Business
History Conference has helped to create and sustain the collaborative, inclusive, and congenial culture that has been become a hallmark of our organization. Pat’s humor, intelligence, and good sense has brightened everyone’s day—and her tireless work behind-the-scenes has helped to ensure that our annual meetings have become so widely admired in the United States and abroad.
A message from Gerben Bakker,
As any member will be able to tell us, Pat Denault has made an enormous contribution to the BHC, in many different roles and ways, including editing the Exchange, copy editing Enterprise & Society, the book auction, and many other things. Personally, I remember Pat from my very first BHC conference, when I was still a Ph.D. student, and how welcome she made me feel. Later she copy-edited my papers for Enterprise & Society, sharply improving the quality of my writing and also saving me from several embarrassing errors. When I served on the electronic media committee I experienced first-hand how essential and ground-breaking her early work with social media has been for the BHC. Pat has been instrumental in the growth and prospering of the Business History Conference, in many different respects. I very much appreciate that as BHC community we take this moment to thank her for her inspiring energy and lasting achievements over the years, which will be a hard act to follow. That we may still enjoy her company for many years to come.
To read previous messages for Pat Denault visit https://exchange-bhc.blogspot.com/2019/02/pat-thank-you.html
To read previous messages for Pat Denault visit https://exchange-bhc.blogspot.com/2019/02/pat-thank-you.html