William A. McCleary III ’57

Published in the June 4, 2014, Issue

Bill, known as “Beets” to his Pingry School classmates and Acharn (teacher) to his Thammasat University students, died Nov. 26, 2013, while snorkeling. The accident occurred in Similan Islands Park, Thailand.

Bill majored in economics at Princeton and joined Charter Club. His senior roommates were Jack Kyle, Jim Seely, and Squire MacIlvaine. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from UC, Berkeley, where he studied from 1961 to 1965.

After a stint at Williams College (1965–1969) he was a lead economist at the World Bank from 1974 to 1997. He then returned to Thailand to teach and do consulting. He was much beloved by his students, who called him Acharn Bill. Throughout his career he published numerous scholarly publications, including lengthy treatises in 1962, 1968, 1974, 1990, and 2012 and a book review of Why Nations Fail, by D. Acemoglu and J. Robinson.

The Rockefeller Foundation was instrumental in sending Bill to Thailand early in his career.

Bill was married to Jane Adams and had two daughters, Whitney and Jennifer. They divorced, and Bill later had a long and happy marriage to Saisamorn (Bao). Sadly, his daughter Whitney died Dec. 31, 2013. The class sends deep sympathy to Bao, Jennifer, and his five grandchildren.