Walter Marshall William Splawn (June 16, 1883 – January 17, 1963) was an American lawyer and economist. Splawn was an

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

, native, born to William Butler and Mary Marshall (Collins) Splawn on June 16, 1883. He graduated from

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

in 1906 with a bachelor's of arts degree. Splawn taught at his alma mater from 1910 to 1912, then began the practice of law in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. He earned a master's of arts degree at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1914, and returned to teach at Baylor in 1916. In 1919, Splawn joined the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

faculty. While teaching economics in Austin, Splawn completed a doctorate at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1921. In 1923, Splawn was appointed to the Railroad Commission of Texas by Pat Morris Neff. The next year, Splawn was selected to succeed interim William Seneca Sutton as president of the University of Texas at Austin, though he was the second choice of the University of Texas Board of Regents. After leaving Austin in 1928, Splawn served as dean of the graduate school of

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, in Washington, D.C., between 1929 and 1934. Splawn served on the federal War Claims Commission as referee in 1927, and concurrently led the Board of Arbitration of Western Railroads and Group of Employees as chairman. Between 1928 and 1930, Splawn mediated disputes heard within the purview of the War Claims Act. In the 1930s, Splawn served as counsel to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more tha ...

. Splawn grew close to representative

Sam Rayburn Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was an American politician who served as the 43rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives. He was a three-time House speaker, former House majority leader, two-time ...

, and was subsequently appointed to the

Interstate Commerce Commission The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was a regulatory agency in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887. The agency's original purpose was to regulate railroads (and later trucking) to ensure fair rates, to eliminat ...

between 1934 and 1953. Splawn died in Washington, D. C. on January 17, 1963, aged 79, and was buried in

Lincoln, Virginia Lincoln is a historic unincorporated village in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, located approximately south of Purcellville. It was established as the community of Goose Creek during the 1750s by Quaker settlers and renamed "Linc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Splawn, Walter Marshall William 1883 births 1963 deaths Texas lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Presidents of the University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Austin faculty Yale University alumni University of Chicago alumni Baylor University alumni Baylor University faculty American university and college faculty deans People from Arlington, Texas 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American economists People of the Interstate Commerce Commission 20th-century American academics