Harold Quinton

Quinton first worked for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at the age of 17.^[1] He subsequently worked for the United States Department of the Treasury, followed by a tax firm in San Francisco, California.^[1] He later served as the president of Buffum's, a department store based in Long Beach, California.^[1]

Quinton joined Southern California Edison in 1942,^[1] eventually serving as its president and chief executive officer from 1954 to 1959.^[2] He served as its chairman from 1958 to 1968,^[1] when he was succeeded by Jack K. Horton.^[3] Quinton also served on its board of directors from 1956 to 1969.^[1] During his tenure as chairman, he oversaw the construction of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in San Diego County, California.^[4] Meanwhile, in 1966, he signed a contract to build the Mohave Power Station in Laughlin, Nevada.^[5]

Quinton served as the president of the Edison Electric Institute.^[1] He also served on the boards of directors of the Kaiser Steel Corporation, the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the First Western Bank and Trust Company.^[1] Additionally, he served on the board of directors of Calabasas Park, a real estate development company whose goal was to develop the former Warner Bros. ranch in Calabasas, California into a residential area.^[6]

Quinton served on the board of trustees of the University of Southern California.^[7] He gave speeches in favor of competition and free market capitalism as well as a reduction in government spending and taxation.^[8][9] He was named the California Industrialist of the Year by the California Museum of Science and Industry in 1967.^[10]

Quinton had a wife, Grace, and a daughter, Mrs Charles Reed.^[1] He was active in the Boy Scouts of America.^[1] He resided in Santa Monica, California, where he died on April 28, 1969.^[1] He was 70 years old.^[1]

The Harold Quinton Chair in Business Policy and Professor of Management and Organization at the Marshall School of Business of the University of Southern California was named in his honor; it is held by Professor Paul S. Adler.^[11]