William Dudley Geer

Dr. William Dudley "Billy" Geer (December 25, 1922 - October 3, 2003), also known as W. D. Geer, was a Christian educator who served as the first Dean of the School of Business at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. His areas of concentration included Finance, Insurance, Applied Economic Analysis, Real Estate and Economic History.

Early life

He was born Christmas Day 1922 in Augusta, Georgia, the eldest of four children of William Frederick Geer (November 26, 1885 - October 16, 1955) and Ida Gilmore Fuller (September 3, 1892 - January 20, 1981). He attended public school, graduating in 1941 from the Academy of Richmond County. He went on to work for the Citizens and Southern National Bank as a utility clerk, general ledger bookkeeper and teller, before being attached to the 45th Infantry Division, U.S. Army Signal Corps as a code clerk (February 1943 - November 1945) during World War II.

After returning from the war, he received his Bachelor of Science in General Business (1949) and Master of Arts in Economics (1950) from Stetson University, DeLand, Florida and his Doctorate of Business Administration in Finance (1964) from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

Teaching career

Fully dedicated to Christian education, he began his teaching career at Mars Hill College, Mars Hill, North Carolina in 1951. In 1953, he became an Associate Professor of Business and Economics at Mississippi College, Clinton, Mississippi followed by a return to Stetson University as Assistant Professor of Economics in 1956. He joined the faculty of Samford University in 1959 as Associate Professor of Economics, becoming a full professor in 1963, chairman of the Division of Business in 1964 and first Dean when the division was elevated to School status in 1966. He helped Samford start the first evening master of business administration (M.B.A.) program in Alabama and advised more than 900 M.B.A. graduates during his tenure. He retired after 31 years on the faculty.

He served as a visiting faculty member at the School of Banking of the South at LSU in Baton Rouge during the summers from 1968 to 1972 and became the first holder of the Margaret Gage Bush Professorship at Samford University in 1986. He was a member of Alpha Kappa Psi Professional Business Fraternity, and the honor societies of Beta Gamma Sigma, Phi Alpha Theta, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Eta Sigma. In 1962 he received the designation Chartered Life Underwriter from the American College of Life Underwriters.

He was a member of the Southern Business Administration Association, serving as president 1971-72; the Council of Business School Deans for the Alabama Commission on Higher Education; the Alabama Academy of Science, serving as vice-president of the Economics and Industry Section; Alabama Council on Economic Education Board of Directors; the Southern Risk and Insurance Association; American Finance Association; Financial Management Association; Southwestern Finance Association; Eastern Finance Association; American Risk and Insurance Association; American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters, Birmingham Chapter of the American Society of Chartered Life Underwriters, American Economic Association; and the Southern Economic Association.

He served as Trustee and chairman of the Executive Committee of the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention; chairman of the Birmingham Consumer Advisory Council; a member of the Board of Management - Five Points YMCA; Trustee of the Birmingham Fabricating Company - Birmingham Bolt Company Bargaining Unit Employees Pension Fund; a member of the Education Committee of the Alabama Real Estate Committee; the Research Committee of the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Post Secondary 1202 Commission - Task force III.

Personal life

He was married on December 18, 1949 in Deland, Florida to Miss Lucy “Elizabeth” Durner, with whom he had three children: John William, Deborah Elizabeth, and Margaret Ruth.

He used his teaching abilities as a volunteer throughout Birmingham with the American Red Cross, the Downtown Firehouse Mission, Rotary Club, United Way and Miles College Accounting Advisory Council.

He was active throughout his life in the Southern Baptist Church and was elected Deacon in 1964 at Southside Baptist Church in Birmingham, and continued his service at the First Baptist Church of Birmingham until his death on October 3, 2003. He was laid to rest in Elmwood Cemetery, Birmingham.

List of publications and research

“History of Florida East Coast Railroad” and “Hamilton’s Financial Plan,” Masters essays, Stetson University, 1950.

“Credit Unions in Southern Baptist Colleges,” Southern Baptist Educator, August, 1958.

“Installment Lending by Alabama Commercial Banks,” a position paper presented before the Banking Committee of the Alabama State Senate, May 16, 1961; published by the Alabama Bankers Association, Montgomery, Alabama, 1961

“Competition from Government-Owned, Government-Sponsored and Government-Subsidized Lending Agencies,” Annual Proceedings of the Consumer Bankers’ Association, 1962, pp. 189-207.

“Problems in the Development of Installment Lending by Alabama Commercial Banks,” dissertation, Graduate School of Business, Indiana University, September, 1963.

“Outlook For Installment Lending in Alabama,” Part I, The Southern Banker, July 1964, pp.36-37; Part II, August 1964, pp. 36-37.

“The Structure of Commercial Banking in Alabama,” The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Vol. 37, No. 1, January 1966, pp. 47-54.

“The Wage Earners’ Plan -- Chapter XIII of the Bankruptcy Act -- in Alabama,” Annual Meeting, Alabama Academy of Science, April, 1966.

“Installment Lending in Alabama,” Special Legislative Subcommittee on Credit Reform, Alabama State Senate, February 26, 1969.

“Installment Lending in Alabama: The Impact of the Truth in Lending Act,” The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Vol. 41, No. 4, October 1970, pp. 232-239.

“The Economic Outlook with Emphasis on the Mortgage Market,” Savings and Mortgage Seminar, Alabama Bankers Association, Birmingham, Alabama, September 17, 1969.

“Economic Outlook,” with Dr. Kenneth E. Van Sise and Dr. W. Jack Duncan, The Alabama Purchaser, February 1971, pp. 23-25.

“Variable Life Insurance; Status Report,” Alabama Life Insurance News, December 1971, pp. 9-11.

“An Economist Looks at Dog Racing,’’ The Alabama Baptist, January 13, 1972, p. 9

“1972 - The Economic Outlook,” with Dr. Kenneth E. Van Sise, Dr. W. Jack Duncan, William Watson, and Daniel White; The Alabama Purchaser, February 1972, pp. 18, 20, 22-23.

“The Demise of Nonpar Banking in Alabama,” with Byron L. Bohannon, The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Vol. 43, No. 2, April, 1972.

“Retirement Planning for Ministers,” The Alabama Baptist, October 26, 1972, p. 7.

“Interest Rate Trends,” Credit Conference, Alabama Bankers Association, Birmingham, Alabama, November 30, 1972.

“Collegiate Education for Business,” Collegiate News and Views, Winter, 1972-73

“Fringe Benefits in Southern Baptist Colleges, 1972-73,” The Southern Baptist Educator, Part I, March-April 1973, pp. 11-13; Part II, May-June 1973, pp. 22-23.

“Personal Bankruptcy In Alabama: A Continuing Problem,” with Edgar Wood, The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Vol. 44, No. 4, October 1973.

“A Deacon Speaks Out: Providing for the Pastor’s Retirement,” The Deacon, The Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, Vol. 4, No. 2, January-February-March 1974, pp. 14-15.

“Church Pension Funds,” Annual Meeting, Southern Risk and Insurance Association, Atlanta, Georgia, November 1974.

“Private Sector Must Join Fight Against Inflation,” Perspective: The Birmingham News, Sunday Editorial Page, November 17, 1974.

“The Changing Structure of Commercial Banking in Alabama,” The Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science, Vol. 46, No. 1, January 1975.

“Forecast 1975: An Economic Outlook,” with Dr. Fred N. Hendon, Dixie Contractor, January 3, 1975.