Haas School Accounting Professor Emeritus Maurice Moonitz, BS 33, MS 36, PhD 41, passed away July 24 at the age of 98.
A memorial for Moonitz will be held Oct. 4 at the UC Berkeley Faculty Club (RSVP to [email protected]).
A prolific scholar, Moonitz was the author or editor of approximately 70 articles and books on accounting and also worked in the field as a certified public accountant.
Moonitz grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and earned his three business degrees at Berkeley. He taught at the University of Santa Clara and Stanford and became a staff accountant at Arthur Andersen before returning to Berkeley as an associate professor in 1947. He was promoted to professor in 1953 and retired in 1978. Moonitz received the American Accounting Association Outstanding Accounting Educator Award in 1985 and was honored by three former students with the establishment of fellowship and endowment funds.
During his time at Berkeley, Moonitz served as the first associate dean of the university's newly formed Graduate School of Business Administration, from 1955 to 1959. In 1966, Moonitz took a leave from Berkeley to become the founding director of the Lingnan Institute of Business Administration of the newly formed Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Moonitz served on the boards of many professional and civic organizations, from the East Chapter of the California Society of CPAs to the Menlo Park Planning Commission. He played the violin with symphony orchestras in Sacramento, Berkeley, and Hong Kong and chamber music groups in California and New York.
Moonitz is survived by three children, David Moonitz, Elaine La Beau, and Judy Hanson; seven grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter.
Memorial donations may be sent to the UC Davis Alzheimer's Disease Center, 150 Muir Road (127A), Martinez, CA 94533 or The Maurice Moonitz Doctoral Fellowship Fund, c/o UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, 502D Faculty Building #1900, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900 (payable to UC Regents). Letters of condolence should be sent to P.O. Box 6628, Albany, CA 94706.