RESPONSE by William H. Beaver

I feel both happy and lucky to be here this morning. I spent my first thirty years in the Chicago area, and it is like returning home. I will briefly touch on three themes: learning versus teaching, looking forward vs. looking to the past, and my hall of fame.

Learning versus Teaching

With respect to learning versus teaching, one of the great attributes of being an educator is that you can actively pursue a process of lifelong learning. This is evident from the ability to conduct research, to learn from that research, and to inform others in the process. The learning process inherently involves learning from others. For me, these have included, most obviously, my teachers, but also my colleagues, my students, and, most of all, my family. Hence, these remarks are about other people.

Paul Conway at Notre Dame was the first to suggest that I consider an academic career. From Paul I learned what dedication to students means. At the time, I ignored Paul’s advice and, upon graduation from Notre Dame, entered Chicago’s MBA program without the slightest intention of pursuing an academic career.

Being at the University of Chicago in the mid1960’s was classic case of being “in the right place at the right time.” From George Sorter, I learned an enthusiasm for trying to resolve challenging puzzles about the role of accounting. George is not only one of the most enthusiastic, but also one of the most creative teachers I have known. From others at Chicago, Sid Davidson, Nick Dopuch, and David Green, among others, I learned the value of rigorous, clear thinking in the development of one’s ideas, the value of empirical research, and a nocompromise attitude in trying to make your research be absolutely firstrate. The energy level and commitment to intellectual issues were contagious. The Chicago accounting workshops generated considerable heat and often considerable light.

On the Chicago faculty, of course, was Chuck Horngren, who is also my colleague at Stanford. I have known Chuck for over thirty years. At each stage in my career, I have sought and received valuable advice from Chuck. Among his many qualities, two of the strongest are his perspective and his fairness. In addition to Chuck’s professional knowledge, the Horngren family has been a role model for the Beaver Family. It is with considerable pride that I hold the Joan E. Horngren Professorship in Accounting. It is a small measure of the debt I owe to Chuck that I asked him to present the citation.

The University of Chicago crowd also included an exceptional group of doctoral students. Besides the finance doctoral students, the accounting students included Ross Archibald, Ray Ball, Philip Brown, Mel Greenball, Jack Kennelly, Fred Neumann, Bill Voss, and Ross Watts, among others. Included in that talented group is Joel Demski, who also became my colleague at Stanford. Joel and I shared many learning experiences, including starting the doctoral seminar series, initiating the Stanford Summer Research (Camp) Series, and coauthoring research. Our respective analytical and empirical approaches to research were complementary. I learned an enormous amount from Joel and owe an enormous debt to him.

On a grim February day in 1969, when we hadn’t seen the sun in Chicago for weeks, Sue and I were invited to visit Stanford. I joined the Stanford faculty in September and began a long association with another group from whom I have learned muchthe Stanford doctoral students. These include: Mary Barth, Bob Bowen, Jerry Bowman, Michael van Breda, Andrew Christie, Michael Clement, Pete Dukes, Ellen Engel, George Foster, Peter Joos, Wayne Landsman, Larry Lookabill, Jim Manegold, Mary Lea McAnally, Dale Morse, Stephen Ryan, D. Shores, Terry Shevlin, Chris Stinson, and Gary Sundem, among others.

When I began my career, I also thought I would measure my accomplishments by my list of publications. I was wrong. I now realize the doctoral students with whom I have had the privilege of being associated are of far greater value. These former students over the years have established outstanding contributions to accounting education. Many have become my coauthors, my friends, my colleagues, and my teachers.

The set of rich resources at Stanford also include my colleagues on the faculty. Over the years, they have included, Joel Demski, Gerry Feltham, Paul Griffin, Chuck Horngren, Steve Huddart, Ron Kasznik, Mark Lang, Russ Lundholm, Maureen McNichols, Nahum Melumad, David Ng, Jim Patell, Rich Samuelson, Bob Sprouse, Bob Swieringa, Pete Wilson, Mark Wolfson, and Bill Wright. A special group are Stanford graduates, who have returned as faculty: Mary Barth, Srikant Datar, George Foster, and Rick Lambert.

Looking Forward versus Looking to the Past

I now turn to the second theme: looking forward versus looking to the past. The past versus the future is a major theme in accounting. It is natural that you reflect on those who have enriched your life. However, it is important to maintain a proper balance between the past and the future. This is especially important to me since I receive this honor at what I consider to be the midpoint of my career.

Looking forward, I expect enjoyment and a sense of accomplishment to come from the continued achievements of my former students. For example, George Foster’s many accomplishments are an entire speech onto themselves. Later today, Wayne Landsman will be inducted as president of the Financial Reporting Section. On Saturday morning, Mary Barth, who earlier this year won the MBA Distinguished Teaching Award in her first year at Stanford, will receive the Wildman Award for her research and other outstanding contributions to accounting.

Moreover, this is just the beginningnot only for Mary and Wayne but for the rest of us as well. Now is an exciting time at Stanford. We now have the nucleus of a financial accounting research faculty that is unprecedented.

My Hall of Fame

I now turn to the third theme: my hall of fame, which is of course, my family. Most of all, I have learned from my family. The key event of my Notre Dame years was meeting Sue, who changed my life forever. I met Sue thirtyfour years ago. We met at a dance, and shortly thereafter we went to dinner to celebrate my twentysecond birthday. Sue gave me a ceramic beaver. She won my heart, and I knew this was the woman for me. It was the start of our beaver collection, now numbering over two hundred, and much more. Last May we celebrated our thirtyfirst wedding anniversary in Spain. We have three children, Marie, Sarah, and David.

Sue is a graduate of the Holy Cross School of Nursing in South Bend. Father Hesberg would often tell stories of Notre Dame students that met their wives while at Notre Dame. I never imagined Sue and I would become one of those stories. After we were married, Sue also received her bachelor’s degree in English and her MBA from College of Notre Dame. Currently, Sue is the vicepresident for research of the Museum of American Heritage in Palo Alto.

Marie, a creative writing major from Stanford, lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, and is a wilderness guide. Sarah, has a masters in art history from the University of Chicago, worked at the Art Institute of Chicago before joining the American Institutes for Research in Menlo Park, California. David, is about to start his second year in the masters in jazz studies program at Indiana University and will begin teaching his first classes this September.

From Sue, I learned many things, but most of all about love, compassion, and understanding. From Marie, I learned you can live In the middle of the Alaska Bush for nine months and survive fifty below zero weather and bear attacks. From Sarah, I learned a love of art. Sarah’s paintings enrich our home and my office and are a daily source of joy. From David, I learned a love of musicparticularly jazz. David has a great sense of humor and is a constant reminder that everything is not as serious as I sometimes think it is.
The family has always been a battery recharger. My family is my life. They have always been my “Hall of Fame” and they always will be.

According to legend, King Croesus is said to have arrayed all is wealth in one place, and asked Solon, a visiting statesman, who he thought was the happiest man in the world. Solon replied, “No living man can be called happy, but only lucky.” This morning surrounded by all my wealth, Solon’s admonition notwithstanding, I feel both happy and lucky. My family and I thank you for this honor.