William R. Haley ’45

Will grew up in Worcester and Middlesex counties in Massachusetts and attended Exeter Academy. At Princeton he was in the St. Paul’s Society, on the Class Day Committee, and a member of Tiger Inn. He graduated magna cum laude in the humanities. He earned an LL.B. from Harvard, a Docteur en Droit from the University of Paris, and a Diplome de L’Academie de Droit International from The Hague.

In World War II he was a private Army quartermaster corps purser, U.S. Merchant Marine. He married Marguerite Jamieson. In 1970 he lost his only brother, James F. Haley ’50, when James drowned off Long Island attempting to rescue Will, who was caught in a heavy undertow.

Will was legislative counsel to Sen. John S. Cooper of Kentucky and a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. He served on the legal staffs of the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission, and was chairman of the U.S. delegation to the international conference in Montreal on revising procedures for investigation of international aviation accidents. He was minority counsel to the House Administration Committee and counsel to the Republican members of the Senate Public Works Committee. He was also an attorney in the foreign department of Mobil Oil Corp.

In 1981 Will shifted to portfolio management at Johnston, Lemon and Co. He lectured at St. John’s University. He established the James F. Haley Memorial Lectures given biennially by the art and archeology department at Princeton University, and an annual lecture series on literary subjects at Phillips Exeter, in memory of his brother. He endowed a lecture series at the Worcester Art Museum in memory of his parents.

Will died June 28, 2017. He is survived by his wife, Marguerite; daughter Amelia; son Hutch; and two grandchildren.