Andrew Thomas Kearney

Andrew Thomas Kearney (1892–1962) was the founder of A.T. Kearney, one of the world's oldest management consulting firms.

Andrew Thomas Kearney joined James O. McKinsey's firm 3 years after it was founded in 1926. Andrew Thomas Kearney was McKinsey's first partner and head of its first office in Chicago. At the time, McKinsey & Company was one of the few firms that focused on management consulting for top level executives rather than specialized consulting in areas such as accounting or law.

In 1937 James O. McKinsey died unexpectedly at the age of 48 due to pneumonia. While the company continued to operate as before, Andrew Thomas Kearney and the remaining partners disagreed over how to run the firm. In 1939, the company was split. Andrew Thomas Kearney continued to operate the Chicago office, renaming the firm McKinsey and Kearney. Marvin Bower, the head of the New York office, continued the practice in New York and retained the rights to the name McKinsey & Company in all areas other than the Midwest. In 1947, Bower purchased the exclusive rights to the name McKinsey & Company from Tom Kearney, who renamed his firm A.T. Kearney & Associates.

In 1961, Tom Kearney retired and James Phelan became the managing partner of the firm. Tom Kearney, died on January 11, 1962.

According to Andrew Thomas Kearney, "Our success as consultants will depend upon the essential rightness of the advice we give and our capacity for convincing those in authority that it is good."