Draft:Frederick Bennett Chaney, PhD

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. KC2026 (talk) 23:47, 28 July 2026 (UTC)

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Frederick Bennett Chaney, PhD, was born on September 8, 1936 in Boulder, Colorado and died on July 25, 2026 in his home in Newport Beach, CA, just weeks before his 90th birthday. Fred was a father of four, an entrepreneur, and a successful builder of several companies.

Fred Chaney received his PhD in Industrial Psychology from Purdue University then received a post doctoral fellowship from the National Science Foundation which he completed at the University of London. He co-authored the book, Human Factors in Quality Assurance.

Fred’s early career began with work for Boeing on the first Pan Am airplane and later he worked on the development of the window for the lunar landing module. In 1969, he acquired the US rights outside of Wisconsin to an executive coaching and peer advisory organization, The Executive Committee (TEC). Fred grew TEC into an international network of thousands of CEOs before selling TEC in 1998 to Vistage. However, Fred continued to meet with most of his original group of CEOs for 57 years until January, 2026. He was peers with Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey, and Ken Blanchard and was fortunate to have their support as he grew TEC.

Fred also helped to start the executive MBA program at Pepperdine and continued to guest lecture throughout his life for many MBA programs. He served as Chairman of the Board for the publicly held company, Lone Star Steakhouse. Fred was proud that Lone Star was selected by Forbes three years in a row as one of the top small companies in the US. During his tenure on the board for Lone Star Steakhouse, Sullivan’s, and Del Frisco's restaurants, the company grew from 9 to ~270 locations.

In 1996, Fred also co-founded The Clergy Committee, a non-profit organization of clergy, from all faiths, dedicated to peer discussions on spiritual, intellectual, and professional development. He and his son, Andrew Chaney, brought the Dalai Lama to Bali (Indonesia) for a conference for presidents of companies (YPO) in April, 1992.

Fred lived in California, Colorado, Florida, Texas, and the UK during his 89 years, raising his 4 children in Aspen, CO and southern CA. He bred, raised, and raced race horses through his ranch, Tari Farms, including several that were trained by the renowned trainer, Bob Baffert. His race horses included Aspen Dancer, Aspen Breeze, and Aspen Prospector. He grew up riding horses in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado and had his first horse at age 7. He spent much of his free time riding trail horses for day rides and pack trips on Grand Mesa near his parents' and grandparents' home in Delta, CO and on the Flat Tops outside of Glenwood Springs, CO. He owned several ranches in Paonia, CO, Silt, CO, Aspen, CO, and near Dallas, TX. For a few years in the 80s, he also owned a dude ranch near Dotsero, CO called the 7W Guest Ranch, with his wife, Linda Chaney, and some fellow horse lovers.

References

Pardon Our Interruption Pardon Our Interruption Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, Inc. Holds Annual Meeting of Shareholders Amazon.com