CITATION
by
Professor Thomas J. Burns The Ohio State University

Although he has a lifetime of achievements, he started his life in very humble circumstances. Born in rural San Diego county in 1922, he lived with his mother and four brothers and sisters after his parents separated. For a while they lived on the earnings of his two older brothers who caddied on weekends. His mother worked for 25 years sorting lemons in a packing house.

He was the only member of his family ever to attend college. After high school, he attended San Diego State College, the older brother helping out financially. He did not do well in college. After two years, he was on probation and decided to quit. His brother agreed. Until he was drafted in 1942, he worked at a Piggly Wiggly grocery store and then a nursery/flower shop, starting at a salary of $15 a week. He had never held a rifle in his hands before infantry basic training, but he qualified as an expert. As a result, he was promoted to corporal and later to sergeant. He was accepted in Officer Candidate School and, in 1945, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the infantry. During three years in Germany, he served as a prosecutor in General Courts Martial where he met his wife, Fran, who was a U.S. civilian court reporter. They spent their honeymoon in Venice.

He left the service in 1949 to pursue a college degree, relying heavily on the GI Bill, which helped finance higher education for veterans. Returning to San Diego State, he was inspired by Professor Charles W. Lamden to major in accounting and undertake an accounting career. A visiting professor from the University of Minnesota offered him an assistantship to do graduate work at Minnesota. There he studied under Professor Carl L. Nelson. He received his University of Minnesota Ph.D. in 1956. Subsequently, he served on the faculties of the University of California at Berkeley, Harvard University and Stanford University. In 1973, he began a term of nearly thirteen years on the Financial Accounting Standards Board. He was the Board’s vice chairman for eleven of those years.

With his colleague, Accounting Hall of Fame member Maurice Moonitz, he coauthored Accounting Research Study No. 3 for the AICPA’s Accounting Principles Board. Several of his many published writings have been reproduced in a book of readings and translated into foreign languages. He was president of the American Accounting Association in 197273. Following his service on the FASB, he became the first AAA director of publications. He has received a number of other honors.

He and Fran, his wife of 47 years, have a daughter and a son. Since retirement, he has become involved as an owner and breeder of thoroughbred race horses. For recreation he runs competitively as well as for pleasure, gardens, and swims. He is the 54th member of the Accounting Hall of Fame.