A British-trained doctor, Haldane arrived in New York City in 1946 only to be told his foreign credentials would not allow him to practice.
Rather than start over in medical school, he became an editor for publications specializing in commerce and business management and quickly became aware that soldiers returning from World War II — and laid-off war factory workers — needed help getting new jobs. In helping them, he invented the field of career counseling.
He became so sought after he founded the career-consulting firm Bernard Haldane Associates, and wrote more than a dozen books, including Career Satisfaction and Success and Job Power Now! Management guru Peter Drucker called Haldane a “pathfinder in finding human strength and making it productive,” and President John Kennedy said of Haldane, “Progress in helping people use their highest skills not only helps the individual worker, it also helps our entire country.”
He sold his firm in 1977, but worked until his death with the poor, children and developing countries to help people gain self esteem and market their skills. He died July 21 in Seattle from congestive heart failure. He was 91.