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. 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 Limit ...

. From 1969 until 1980, he was an adviser on an American Law Institute project to codify federal securities laws. In 1972, the SEC appointed Demmler to its Special Committee on Enforcement Policy.

Corporate directorships

During his career, he served as a

member of the board A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of various corporations, including Duquesne Light, Sharon Steel and

Hammermill Paper The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Te ...

Personal life

Demmler died, age 91, in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. At his death, he was survived by Catherine, his wife of 66 years. Demmler was also survived by a son John H. Demmler and three grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demmler, Ralph 1904 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople Allegheny College alumni American corporate directors Businesspeople from Pennsylvania Eisenhower administration personnel Members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania Republicans Politicians from Pittsburgh University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni

Early life and education

Career

Corporate directorships

Personal life

See also

References