In Memorium
SIDNEY DAVIDSON
Sidney Davidson, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, died on September 15, 2007. He was 88 years old. Under his leadership in the 1960s, the University of Chicago led the way to grounding accounting research in empiricism. He directed the birth in 1963 of the Journal of Accounting Research, the first non-association journal in accounting, and the first to emphasize the standards of empirical work and scholarship otherwise common in economics. He was instrumental in establishing the annual Journal of Accounting Research Conference (known for many years as the Conference on Empirical Research in Accounting), the first non-association conference in accounting, and delivered the welcoming address in each of the first 41 years.
Sidney graduated from the University of Michigan with A.B., M.B.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He joined the Chicago faculty in 1958 and four years later he was named the Arthur Young Professor of Accounting. In 1984, he became the Arthur Young Distinguished Service Professor of Accounting. He was dean from 1969 to 1974. While he formally retired in June 1999, Sidney continued to teach until 2004 and remained active in scholarship and fundraising. He and his wife Freda gave a major gift to help fund construction of the school’s Gleacher Center.
Sidney wrote many articles and 15 books, including the classic textbook Financial Accounting: An Introduction to Concepts, Methods, and Uses, now in its 12th edition, co-authored with Clyde Stickney and Roman Weil. His work in the 1950s on the nature of deferred income taxes led colleagues and students to study the economics of transactions, not just their debits and credits. Sidney was among the first advocates of fair value accounting.
In a 1971 article about the influence of the University of Chicago, The New York Times said Sidney is “sometimes called the nation’s number one accountant.” Sidney had, by then, served several years as an accounting standard setter on the Accounting Principles Board, the predecessor to the Financial Accounting Standards Board. In his comments on and dissents to decisions on generally accepted accounting principles, he applied the discipline of economics in ways that standard setters had not previously used.
Sidney was president of the American Accounting Association and vice chairman of the Financial Accounting Foundation. When he was elected a vice president of the American Institute of CPAs, he became the first academic to serve as an officer. He was elected to the Accounting Hall of Fame in 1983. He served as a consultant for many businesses and government agencies, including the U.S. Treasury Department from 1961 to 1969, and the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also was a frequent expert witness in legal cases involving accounting and tax issues.
Sidney was a director of Brunswick Corp., Zenith Electronics Corp., and Stone Container Corp. He also served on the boards of Banco di Roma, CNA Income Shares, Duff and Phelps Utility Income Fund, Genesco, Inc. and Hyde Park Bank and Trust Company.
He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Freda Davidson. Other survivors include their children Jonathan Davidson and Vicki Goldwyn, son-in-law John Goldwyn and daughter-in-law Joy Davidson, grandchildren Dhruva Davidson, David Goldwyn, Samantha Goldwyn, Brittany Davidson and Danielle Davidson, and great-grandson Tyler Markowski Davidson. Also surviving him are his brother David Davidson and sister Delores Sacks.
