Donald K. Conover ’53

Don was born in Brooklyn and came to Princeton from Poly Prep Country Day School. He majored in basic engineering, joined Dial Lodge, and was an officer of the Outing Club and Mountaineering Club.

Don spent most of his professional life in the Bell system, first with Western Electric and then with AT&T.

After spending time at MIT in 1964 and 1965 with a Sloan Fellowship and earning a master’s of science degree in industrial management, Don’s career focused increasingly on the relationship between an organization and its personnel.

He was interested in the way corporate education shifted from teaching people how to fit into a smoothly working process to a concern for the way an individual confronts personal change “to be effective in a world of ambivalence and ambiguity.”

Don always enjoyed travel and exploration, and in retirement he and his wife, Patti, traveled abroad on a regular basis. He cultivated a lifelong interest in bullfighting and contributed reviews and articles to Taurine Bibliophiles of America.

Don died peacefully March 28, 2017, near his home in Newtown, Pa. He is survived by his wife, Patti; sons Malcolm and Paul ’80; and Paul’s two children, Catherine and Matthew.