Ralph H. Demmler (August 22, 1904 December 23, 1995) was an American lawyer specializing in corporate banking law and chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from June 1953 to May 1955.

Early life and education

He graduated from

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" ( 2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

, where he was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa Society The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ar ...

. Demmler earned his law degree at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Career

He began his law practice in Pittsburgh in 1928. In 1943, Demmler joined the law firm Reed Smith Shaw & McClay and was elected a partner in 1948. A member of the Republican Party, he served as chairman of the

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

(SEC) between June 1953 and 1955. Demmler had been appointed a member of the commission just earlier.

Social Security Death Index The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) was a database of death records created from the United States Social Security Administration's Death Master File until 2014. Since 2014, public access to the updated Death Master File has been via the Limite ...

. From 1969 until 1980, he was an adviser on an

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification