Dana Mead, 82

Feb. 22, 1936 —

Oct. 31, 2018

 

Boston Mass. - Dana G. Mead, 82, passed away on Oct. 31, 2018 in Boston, Mass. 

Funeral services were held at the Old Cadet Chapel at the West Point Cemetery on Nov. 20, 2018.

He was born on Feb. 22, 1936 in Cresco, Iowa to George and Evelyn (Derr) Mead, owners of the Plain Dealer until being sold in 1945. The family then moved to Cottage Hills, Ill. when Dana was 13.

His son, Mark, said his father always talked fondly of Cresco and growing up in the Midwest. “He developed his hard-working attitude, saying kind words and telling funny stories from the Midwest.”

He graduated from West Point and later received a PhD in Political Science from MIT. Dana had a career that spanned the military, business and academia. He served with distinction in regular Army units in Germany and Vietnam and taught in West Point’s Department of Social Sciences. 

Dana was a White House Fellow and served three years in the White House as the Deputy Director of the Domestic Council. 

After retirement from the Army, he began a business career, first at International Paper and then as Chairman and CEO of Tenneco. Dana was a past Chairman of both the National Association of Manufacturers and of the Business Roundtable. He also served on the boards of Pfizer, Zurich, Textron and Cummins. 

After retirement, Dana served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Corporation (MIT’s Board of Trustees) from 2003-2010. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was also on the board of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the School for Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and the National Board of Governors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. 

He is survived by his wife, Nancy; sons, Dana, Jr. (D’Arcy) and Mark (Susie); his brother, Michael (Anna); and seven grandsons.