Thomas Henry Sanders

The son of Thomas and Catherine Nock Sanders was born on April 7, 1885, in Brierley Hill, Staffordshire, England. He received a bachelor's (1905) and a master's (1914) degree from the University of Birmingham, England and a doctor's degree (1921) from Harvard University. He was with Rudge-Whitworth, Ltd., Coventry, England from 1905 until 1910. During the years 1911 to 1917 he was an instructor in commercial practice at Higher Commercial School, Yamaguichi, Japan. He came to the U. S. in 1917. He joined the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor (1918-20), and later he went to Harvard University serving as assistant professor (1921-24), associate professor (1924-27), and professor (1927-52), the position he held at retirement. He was certified as a CPA. In 1926 he became an American citizen.

He was active in professional organizations, in particular the NAA, serving as its president (1931-32), and earlier as vice president and director of publications (1930-31), and as a member of the Board of Directors of the NAA. He also served the NAA as Director of Education (1927-29), Research (1929-30; 1933-34), and chairman of the Committee on Research (1945-46). He was vice president (1923-24) and president (1924- 25) of the Boston Chapter of NAA. He served the AICPA as Director of Research (1939-41). He was also affiliated with the AAA.

He spoke before many professional groups and he wrote numerous articles for professional journals. He authored a number of books, including Problems in Industrial Accounting (1923), Bookkeeping and Business Knowledge with J. H. Jackson and A. H. Sproul, two volumes (1926), Cost Accounting for Control (1934), A Statement of Accounting Principles with H. R. Hatfield and U. Moore (1938), Accounting Principles and Practices with H. R. Hatfield and N. L. Burton (1940), Company Annual Reports (1949), and Effects of Taxation on Executives (1951). During the academic year 1948-49 he was the Dickinson Lecturer at Harvard.

His public service included consultant to the SEC (1934-35); Chief of the Cost Analysis Section, Division of Purchases, Office of Production Management; and member, Price Adjustment Boards of the War Department, the Navy Department, and Maritime Commission.

He married Gertrude-Schuiz on March 25, 1914; they had five children. He died June 5, 1953 at the age of 68.