SOMMERFELD
RESOLUTION
At its August meeting the ATA Board of Trustees approved the resolution
appearing below concerning Prof. Ray M. Sommerfeld, who died in a drowning
accident on Lake Travis outside Austin, TX on August 8, 1995. The ATA
membership approved the resolution at its annual business meeting.
Inasmuch as Ray M. Sommerfeld was:
A founding member of the American Taxation Assn. (ATA),
The ATA's 1975-76 President, and a leader in the creation of its
journal
Inasmuch as Ray M. Sommerfeld was:
A leader in designing and building an academic discipline to prepare
students for professional careers in taxation,
An innovator in designing a conceptual approach to teaching the intricate
rules of taxation, and
A mentor to countless individuals
Inasmuch as Ray M. Sommerfeld was:
The first recipient of the ATA's Outstanding Tax Educator Award, named in
his honor
The Board of Trustees and the membership of the ATA extend deepest
sympathy to the Sommerfeld Family.
Adopted Orlando, Florida, August 14, 1995
____________________________________________________________
Memories of Ray
Anna
Fowler
John
Everett
_____________________________________________________________
Biography
The Late Professor Ray M. Sommerfeld,
1933-1995
Biographical Information (Excerpts)
Ph.D, Economics, The University of Iowa, 1963
M.A., Accounting, The University of Iowa, 1957
B.S.C. with highest distinction, Commerce, The University of Iowa, 1956
C.P.A., Texas, 1959
Faculty member, The University of Texas at Austin, 1963--1976,
1978--1993
Holder
of James L. Bayless/Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, Inc. Chair in Business
Administration at the time of his retirement
Partner and National Director of Tax Education, Arthur Young &
Company, Reston, VA, 1976--1978
Audit Officer, U.S. Air Force, 1957--1960
Jack G. Taylor Teaching Excellence Award, University of Texas at Austin,
1966
Graduate Business Council Teaching Excellence Awards, University of Texas
at Austin, 1976, 1983, 1984
American Taxation Assn., Ray M. Sommerfeld Outstanding Educator Award
(first recipient), 1993
American Accounting Assn., Outstanding Educator Award, 1994
American Accounting Assn., Vice President, 1982--1984, President Elect,
1985--1986, President, 1986--1987
American Taxation Assn., President, 1975--1976
Accounting Education Change Commission, member, 1989--1992
AICPA National Tax Education Steering Committee, member, 1977--1983
IRS Commissioner’s Advisory Committee, member, 1981--1982
Austin Chapter of Texas State Society of CPAs, President, 1975--1976
Faculty Senate, University of Texas at Austin, 1979--1981, 1986--1988
University Council, University of Texas at Austin, 1979--1981,
1986--1988
Co-author with Hershel M. Anderson and Horace R. Brock, Introduction
to Taxation, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, various editions,
beginning in 1969
Co-author with Hershel M. Anderson, Horace R. Brock, and John O. Everett,
HBJ Federal Tax Course, three editions, beginning in 1984
Co-author with Silvia Madeo, Betty Jackson, and Ken Anderson, Concepts
of Taxation, 1993
Co-author with G. Fred Streuling, Tax Research Techniques, AICPA, three
editions, beginning in 1976
Federal Taxes and Management Decisions, various editions, beginning
in 1974
Among his fifteen articles, “Taxation: Education’s
Orphan,” The Journal of Accountancy 112, December 1966,
pp. 38--44
Survived by spouse Barbara, daughters Andrea and Kristin, a grandson and
a granddaughter
Original award of the ATA
Outstanding Educator Award to Ray M. Sommerfeld in 1993.
AMERICAN TAXATION ASSOCIATION
1993 Announcement of the Ray M. Sommerfeld Outstanding Tax Educator
Award
First recipient (1993): Ray M. Sommerfeld; presented by Fred Streuling
As chair of the 1992/93 ATA Awards Committee, it is my privilege today
to announce the creation of the Outstanding Tax Educator Award, sponsored
jointly by the American Taxation Association and Ernst & Young. The
idea of the award was presented by our committee in executive session to
the ATA Board of Trustees at the 1993 Mid-year Meeting in Chicago where it
received unanimous approval.
Taxation has matured into a separate and distinct field of study and
today is recognized as such by both academicians and practitioners. At
times the road to achieve such stature has been a rocky one. The formation
of the American Taxation Association, nineteen years ago in New Orleans,
significantly contributed towards recognition and acceptance. However, we
especially have to thank individuals who staked their vision, creativity,
energy, and, at times, their professional reputation to achieve such
recognition. Therefore, our committee believes that the time has come when
we should recognize, honor, and reward outstanding contributions by faculty
members who, through their examples and diligent service have helped bring
stature and prominence to our profession.
Our committee has selected an individual as the first recipient of the
Outstanding Educator Award, who, throughout a distinguished career, has
earned respect and admiration from students, academicians, and
practitioners. As a young professor he resolved that students, who were
interested in taxation as a professional career, deserved to be properly
educated. Although others had voiced similar thoughts, he went past the
idea stage and built one of the most successful graduate tax programs in
the country and inspired the creation of similar programs at other
universities. This occurred at a time when professors received little
formal education in taxation during their graduate studies. And so to his
young colleagues, whom he hired to assist him, he became a tutor and mentor
in the truest sense. He shared his creative genius and wealth of teaching
experiences with his colleagues, even to the extent that he would endure
the drudgery of attending their classes to give moral support and provide
valuable suggestions. They also received help and encouragement with
research and writing projects.
Unlike some of us, who hold on to old ideas a little too long, he
constantly experimented with new ideas. As a result, he broke new ground by
publishing one of the first readable tax texts. He demanded superior
performances from his students and he had a knack of making them like him
for it. Over the years he shared unique approaches to teach taxation, such
as using diagrams of chemistry beakers to explain the phenomenon of capital
gains and losses; and when you attended his classroom lectures you left
exited and fed, never feeling that stale information had been
dispensed.
His abilities and accomplishments became recognized by the practicing
professionals and about midway through his career he became a partner with
Arthur Young & Company responsible for the firm's tax training. After
accomplishing what he had set out to do, he returned to his first love,
namely academics.
Over the years he rendered valuable service in professional
organizations such as the AICPA, the ATA, and the AAA. He served as ATA
President from 1975 to 1976, led the initial effort to create the Journal
of the American Taxation Association, and was honored by his peers as the
1986-87 President of the American Accounting Association. Not so long ago,
he was honored by being appointed to the Accounting Education Change
Commission.
An accomplishment which has elevated my respect for him especially, has
been his ability, despite numerous offers and opportunities, to elude with
grace and dignity the temptation of becoming a department chair, dean or,
heaven help, a university administrator with whom he had little patience.
Yet they valued his judgement and his opinion and when it was time to
select a new dean, football coach, or university president, he usually
appeared as a member of the selection committee.
If my laudatory comments have sounded somewhat like an obituary, it may
perhaps be appropriate, since the word is that our honoree, Ray M.
Sommerfeld has decided to give it all up and he has officially retired from
the University of Texas. Ray, your retirement will be well deserved but a
great loss to all of us; and you will be missed.
Ray, will you please join me here on the stand.
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It is my honor to present to you this glass sculpture, which, we hope,
will assume a prominent perch in your home. The artist was informed that
the piece was to represent lifetime achievement and that the recipient had
a great love for sailing. As you glance at it in years to come, and we
trust there will be many, we hope it will remind you of our respect,
admiration and love for you and the contributions you have made to all of
us as we have tried to sail and navigate the waters of our profession.
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In conclusion, I would like to make two additional announcements.
First, the Board of Trustees has approved our committee's recommendation
that the Outstanding Educator Award shall henceforth be known as the Ray M.
Sommerfeld Outstanding Educator Award.
Second, it is our committee's intent that copies of this sculpture will
be awarded to future recipients of the Ray M. Sommerfeld Outstanding
Educators Award.
------------------------------- As I announced initially, this award is
co-sponsored by the ATA and Ernst & Young. I now invite Ray McGowen,
Ernst & Young's National Director of Tax Human Resources representing
the Ernst & Young Foundation, to make an additional presentation.