William Welling Werntz

The son of William Warren and Lillian Gertrude Welling Werntz was born on March 27, 1908, in Washington, D. C. After three years of attending Scott High School, Toledo, Ohio, he graduated as class valedictorian from the Muskegon, Michigan High School in 1925.

He received a bachelor's degree (1929) and a law degree (1931) from Yale University; during the period 1931-34 he completed all course work and examinations for the doctoral degree in economics except for the dissertation. During the summer of 1930, he studied law and accounting at the University of Michigan. From 1929 to 1935 he taught accounting, corporation finance and law at Yale University and Yale Law School. He joined the SEC as a member of the legal staff in 1935 and he was made chief accountant in 1938, the position he held until 1947 when he left to join Touche Ross & Co. He was made senior partner in 1964, the position he held until his death. While with the SEC he was a consultant to the Office of Price Administration (1942-43) and the U. S. Treasury Department (1944-45) and chairman of the Central Authority of the Federal Housing Authority. He was certified as a CPA in 1950 (New Jersey). He was admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1931.

He was active in professional organizations, serving as vice president of the AAA in 1948. He served on the AICPA's Council (1960-63) and Trial Board (1961; vice chairman, 1962). He was a member of the Committee on Accounting Procedure from 1950 to 1959, serving as chairman during the period 1956-59. He was chairman of many other AICPA committees, including Relations with Universities (1959-61), and Special Committee on Opinions of the Accounting Principles Board (1964). He was also a member of the Special Committee on Research (1957-59) which designed the framework for establishing the APB in 1959. He was also a member of the study group on business income sponsored by the AICPA and the Rockefeller Foundation. He was active in the NAA, the New Jersey and New York State Societies of CPAs, and many other organizations.

He lectured at a number of universities including Connecticut College of Commerce, George Washington University, Practicing Law Institute and the University of Pennsylvania. He spoke before more than 75 professional groups and he wrote many articles for U. S. and foreign professional journals. He was a member of the Accounting Advisory Boards of Columbia Institute of Accounting, Pace College, and Rutgers University. He was member of Beta Alpha Psi, Delta Theta Phi, and Phi Beta Kappa (junior year at Yale).

He was active in church, civic, and community affairs of his hometown of Glen Ridge, New Jersey, serving as treasurer, Community United Fund Drive (1957); councilman (1958-64); deacon and chairman of the Auditing Committee, Glen Ridge Congregational Church; and director, Glen Ridge Taxpayers Association.

He married Jeanne Darling Campbell on July 9, 1932; they had one child. In his leisure time he enjoyed fishing, stamp collecting, playing bridge, and reading. He died on November 19, 1964 at the age of 56.