U.S. Steel Magnate Says Business Desperate For College Intellectuals

"In no place is the intellectual college graduate more welcome or needed than a the business world," Roger Blough, chairman of the board of the United States Steel Corporation, told a Lowell House audience last night.

The complexity of business decisions today, Blough said, demands men with intelligence and sensitivity. And in order to survive, big business desperately needs intellectuals with these qualities, to asserted.

Blough assured his audience that one who enters the business world need not abandon his intellectual orientation or deals. "A business man protects one of our most basic freedoms--the freedom from want."

Grey Flannel Out

Business needs men who think creatively rather than men who merely assent to others' ideas," Blough said. "Teamwork does not mean a loss of individuality," he asserted, "and you don't have to wear a grey flannel suit."

Business managers are not confined to reading the financial pages of a newspaper, Blough assured his audience. He described his associates as interested in art, music, and rare books.

Government Keep Out

Blough also charged that the more the government intervenes in strikes and labor negotiations, the more difficult the situation becomes. He added dryly that he would be happy if the government did not try to keep the steel industry from raising its prices.

Blough also praised the steel industry's efforts to develop better quality steel, noting. "With the same weight of steel used originally, we can now put 20 more floors on the Empire State Building."