Paton, William A. (William Andrew), 1889-1991

Economist and accountant. Born in Calmuet, Michigan. Ph.D., University of Michigan (1917) and Litt.D., Leigh University (1944). Professor, University of Michigan and elsewhere. Member, Accounting Hall of Fame (1950), and fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Author of numerous accounting works.

Economist and accountant.

Born in Calmuet, Michigan. Ph. D., University of Michigan (1917) and Litt. D., Leigh University (1944). Professor, University of Michigan and elsewhere. Member, Accounting Hall of Fame, and fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Author of numerous accounting works.

Professor of accounting at the University of Michigan from 1914 to 1959,

consultant and expert witness for court cases, specialist in areas of valuation, utility rates, and income measurement.

William A. Paton taught accounting at the University of Michigan from 1914 to 1959, and maintained an active interest in his profession until he was well into his nineties. He taught more than 20,000 students over the course of his career.

Paton was born near Calumet, Michigan on July 19, 1889. He was educated at Michigan State Normal College and the University of Michigan, from which he earned his PhD in 1917. Except for the 1916-1917 school year, when he was an economics instructor at the University of Minnesota, Paton spent his entire career on the University of Michigan business school faculty. He also served as a visiting professor at many other universities, including the University of Chicago, the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard.

A prolific writer, Paton published hundreds of articles and book reviews, and was author or co-author of twenty books. Among his best known publications are Accounting Theory, Shirtsleeve Economics, Essentials of Accounting, and Assets-Accounting and Administration. Paton was a political and economic conservative, and his work is informed by a strong belief in free market capitalism, and an equally strong dislike of government regulation.

In addition to teaching, Paton worked as a consultant and expert witness for court cases, federal and state commissions, arbitration hearings and congressional committees. His areas of specialization included valuation, utility rates, and income measurement; he often testified on behalf of utility companies. He also worked for the Bureau of Research and Statistics, the War Trade Board and the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Paton prided himself on his ability to maintain friendships with former students, including President Gerald R. Ford and many corporate chief executive officers. He kept up an extensive correspondence with hundreds of former students until close to his hundredth birthday, and published the book Words! Combining Fun and Learning at the age of ninety-four. Paton died at Whitehall, Michigan on April 26, 1991.