Sarah (Sally) Thorelli

Dr. Sarah (Sally) V. Thorelli was born in Atlanta, GA., Dec. 30, 1922, daughter of Thomas E. Scott, Esq. and Mary Scott (b. Belk). She was a well-known free-lance researcher and scholar, interested in economic policies on both sides of the marketplace and in organizational theory and practice. For years she was concerned with consumer policies both in the United States and abroad, and received international recognition in this area. She was an associate in a strategic planning and research consulting firm, Heartland Associates. Sally served as Vice President of INTOPIA, INC., representing the international Operations Simulation developed by an international team of professors guided by her husband. She co-authored two books, Consumer Information Handbook: Europe and North America (New York: Praeger, 1974) and Consumer Information Systems and Consumer Policy (Cambridge: Ballinger, 1977), and wrote or co-authored a number of articles. She consulted with the Federal Trade Commission and the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., and the Sears, Roebuck and Company and participated in field surveys of consumer groups and business organizations in South America, Europe, South Africa, Thailand and the People’s Republic of China during the last forty years. She was an official translator of legal documents including the Constitution of Sweden for the Swedish Foreign Office during her years in Stockholm; she was an intelligence research analyst for the U.S. Department of State in the early 1950’s, a foreign representative for the Equifax (formerly Retail Credit) Company and an account executive at J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency in New York City. She served with the Chemical Warfare Service during World War II. Dr. Thorelli held an AB degree in Economics from the University of Georgia, and MA in Public Administration from the University of Alabama, and studied at Northwestern University as a fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Southern Regional Training Program, finishing her PhD degree in Political Economy at the University of Stockholm. She lived in Stockholm six years, one year in Lausanne and another in London. Yearlong (or more) stays in Chicago, Washington and New York. She ran the family farm north of Bloomington for twenty years, before moving downtown in 1991. She was married to Hans B. Thorelli, Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at Indiana University. Her two grown children live outside Indiana. Irene is a former Professor at the University of Wisconsin and Tom has his own international law firm in Chicago. She leaves five grandchildren. She was a one-time President of the University Women’s Club, a member of the American Association of University Women, Psi Iota Xi Philanthropic Society, the Network of Career Women, the Local Council of Women and a number of Indiana University related groups. A memorial service will be held on Sunday, November 14th in Bloomington. The time and place of services will be announced. Allen Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.allenfuneralhome.org.

Tributes

Sarah (Sally) Thorelli

December 30, 1922