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•
r
JOSEPH C. WILSONDAY
UNIVERSITYOF ROCHESTER
November 10, 1972
C. Peter
McColough
�Thank you.
must
confes5;
di.ff~cult
this
1to talk
size
tonight
--
and without
for
because
b~by
very quiet
a tribute
·to · h i s 1 i f e .
rather
of
as I wish
a man who for
question,
. uncomfortable/
his
it
to an audience
was my boss,
difficult
but largely
I find
even as briefly
-- about
..· two decades
It's
that
almost
my friend
my finest
teacher.
a number of reasons,
I know how
and how embarrassec'
way
of
--
in
Joe Wilson would
such
Jreat
proportions
�Joe was a yery
gracious
man1 with
an intense
an d v e r y war m i n t er e s t i n v i r t u a 11 y e v er y on E
he met.
He was also
a scholar
t o d a y i n t h e b u s i n e s s wo r 1 d .
even in those
Xerox
was very
poetry
when the
much at
and philosophy
.. Thoreau,
Frost,
don't
said
years
think
i ssuj
-- unusual
He f o un d t i m;,
survival
to
of
read
the
of such favorites
deChardin,
anyone
would
he was a very acute
but he was by no means --
Mill,
as
Emerson.
be surpr
i se7
if
businessman;
and by his
own
ad mi s s i on - - a ''tr ad i t i on a 1 '' bus i n es s
manager
the
only
-- particularly
thing
that
when one considers
really
-2-
matters:
people.
�Joe Wilson
mold --
simply
into
him --
into
traced,
didn't
fit
any image that
any pattern
into
any
wa~ given
that
could
to
be
cut and made again.
And when, several
ago,
he passed
to
~,e',<,,,✓.4/S.
i' t h e
. my car
years
comp a n y t h a t h e b u i 1t,., f a s t er
than
any major
built,
I'm not
could
recognize,
enterprise
sure
that
because
has ever
been
he recognize)or
of his
deep
i n v o 1 v emen t - - t h a t i-t s g r e a t n e s s wa s n o t
1n the
process
that
1rr the
values,
the
personality
-
.
on it
.
that
it made famous;
vision
and the
he personally
,
imorinted
I
o
-3-
but
�Those are perhaps
that
I can talk
And they
evolved,
c~aracteristics
never
the most germane thing]
with
you about
I believe,
from the two
from which Joe Wilson
wavered.
The first
tonight.
was conviction.
-4-
�I remember th~t
four or five
of
our more vocal
.
.
a resolution
that,
restricted
by, its
in effect,
would have
freedom
The resolution
sponsor
Joe -- after
its
introduced
to institutions
learning.
favor
listening
to make
of higher
was brought
at our annual
-- stood
ag,one
shareholders
the company's
contributions
years
up
meeting;
and
to the arguments
up and addressed
1n
the
'
issue.
debate
and that
He said,
about
as I recall,
corporate
any shareholder
r~sponsibility
policy
any
is valuable,
has the right
to make his
-5-
that
views known.
and
�But the
future
future
-- depends
educated
that
of Xerox --
on a literate,
and rational
reason
he felt
indeed
everyone'~
well-
society.
And for
profoundly
opposed
to
the resolution.
Then,
almost
as an afterthough~
need explanation,
shareh_older
philosoph'l
First,
second,
really
could
they
· management
_said,
he added that
who disagreed
they
could
with
had only
sell
their
Q.2t changeo''
-6-
didn't
any
that
two choices.
shares
make an effort
out of office.
''we will
that
or
to vote
''But , " he
�Four thousand
suddenly
feet
people
and spontaneously
in a standing
perhaps
in that
man who prompted
i ur~
to their
-- which came
surprise
.
it.
That kind of conviction
Wi 1 son as i ts
rose
ovation
as the greatest
auditor
-- with
I
to the
Joe
sour c e - - was11 what bu i 1 t
Xerox -- what drew to the company people
who responded
to it,
who felt
their
meaningful
that
within
respected
lives
it.
-7-
could
it,
and
be more
�But in some ways conviction
crue7 unless
it's
somehow
somehow softene'lw
human frailty
with
the
can also
be
tempered;
it~ an understanding
or -- perhaps
knowledge
that
of
more simply
none of us is
r i-g h t a 11 t h e t i me - - or mor e a c c ur a t e 1 y ,
the knowledge
that
vary as widely
Compassion
as their
every
Joe Wilson
day
I of
capabilities
personalities.
1s the word I want,
and compassion
that
people's
think;
is the second
characteristic
demonstrated
consistently,
every
year/
I knew
him.
-8-
----- - --
IT"'"'
�When faced
that
with
a hard
I mean a decision
man would work harder
decision,
'
about
I
and by
.
people,
or search
no
more
i n t en s e 1 Y; t o f i n d a s o 1 u t i o n i n wh i c h
the
concern
for
the
ai1d no man would
loss
of a talented
something
to his
individual
feel
more
prevailed
pai/
at
the
ma~ who had contributed
colleagues
and to his
company.
Joe Wilson
brought
business
decision,
p·erson-al
decision,
humanity
to every
as well
as to every
ever
l
1
-~
'.
-9-
maJor
saw. him make.
�He was the- ki17d of man who could
the
f~Q!§ of
implications
teach
-
humanly
any situation,
review
-- and see --
those
decisions
I
around
him --
may be coldly
incorrect
grasp
their
as well
that
some
logical,
and perhaps
as
but
even
·· i mp r o p e r •
The difference
of conviction
factors
will
be affected.
righ~
-- the human
and how people
In many ways,
even conscious
a part
factors
of him/that
assumedo
l
I
!
l.
factors
those
with
The y wer e s i mp1 y t h e r e ·- - a s s o
fundamental
simply
the dual
and compassion
of what's
were hardly
~Joe .
was always
-10-
they were
�Ye t 1 t h e y a r e
his
~
leadership
bedrock
h e f o un d a t i o n s on wh i c h
rested.
They're
from which a great
emerge1/and
on which
it
the
enterprise
continues
to
grow.
And finally,
gr~at
man, rich
has left
or the
its
they
are
the
legacy
which a
in human understanding,
not only to the
company he built,
un i v'er s i t y he he 1p e d g u i de th r o ugh
growth
years,
but to each organizatio~
. I'
and to
abiding
each
individual
concern
for
he touche]with
the
-11-
human condition.
his
�It's
a
a legacy
long time
Thank
that
indeed;
will
be with
and so will
you.
-12-
us for
Joe.
�
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Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
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Speech at Wilson Day, 1972
Creator
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McColough, Peter
Date
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1972-11-10
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University Archives (UR-RBSCP)
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Speech