William P. Albrecht

William Price Albrecht Jr. (January 7, 1935 – October 30, 2024) was an American economist who served as a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 1988 to 1993, including as acting chairman in 1993.

Early life Albrecht was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1935, the son of William Price and Jane Moses Albrecht. The younger Albrecht received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Princeton University in 1956 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1956 to 1961 before receiving a master's degree in economics from the University of South Carolina in 1962.

Career Albrecht was hired by the University of Iowa, serving as an assistant professor (1965–1970), associate professor (1970–1982), and professor (1982–2007) of economics. While there, he served as an associate dean of the College of Business Administration from 1984 to 1988, the founder and director from 1999 to 2005 of the university's Institute for International Business, and the Justice Professor of International Business from 2000 to 2007. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of the Andes in Venezuela in 1986. Among a variety of academic works, he published a trio of economics textbooks (Economics, Macroeconomic Principles, and Microeconomic Principles), which were each published in four editions by Prentice Hall in the 1970s and 1980s. Albrecht went on to serve as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Dick Clark in 1974. He received a recess appointment from Reagan on November 22, 1988, and Reagan renominated him to the post at the beginning of the following congress. President George H. W. Bush withdrew and resubmitted his nomination in August 1989, and he was confirmed by the senate on November 19, 1989, for a term expiring April 13, 1993. On January 22, 1993, Chairwoman Wendy Lee Gramm resigned from the commission, and Albrecht was selected by his fellow commissioners as acting chairman. He made it known that he was interested in being reappointed to the panel to become its chair on a permanent basis, but he faced criticism from fellow Democrats in congress, including Glenn English and Dick Durbin, over several deregulatory actions taken by the commission. After it became clear that he would not be renominated by President Bill Clinton, Albrecht resigned on August 20, 1993. While serving as the commission's delegate to the International Organization of Securities Commissions, he also faced criticism for having a high volume of international travel.

Personal life and death Albrecht married Fran Jaecques in Iowa City, on July 4, 1976. They had eight children. He died in Iowa City on October 30, 2024, at the age of 89.

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