Dr. Schaffer was born November 20, 1934, in Sandersville, Georgia, to Albert Edward Schaffer and Sarah Key Harris Schaffer. When his father died in 1938, he and his mother moved back to her hometown of Monticello, Georgia, where he was raised by his beloved grandparents Samuel Robert Harris and Sarah Maude Key. After graduating as valedictorian from Monticello High, he earned his BS in Industrial Management at Georgia Tech in 1956 on an NROTC scholarship before serving four years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a helicopter pilot. After receiving his PhD in economics from Duke University in 1963, he returned to Atlanta to teach economics at Georgia Tech, first in the College of Industrial Management and then in the School of Economics.
Bill married Lee Lonsdale Davis on December 31, 1969, in the courthouse at Monticello, Georgia. At Georgia Tech, he twice served as director of the School of Economics, and for 25 years was chair of the Finance Committee for the Board of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association. He served for many years as advisor and counselor to the Georgia Tech (Gamma Eta) chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, was an early board member of the Georgia Tech Executive Round Table, and was founder of and advisor to the Georgia Tech chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the student honorary society for economics. After retiring in 2001, he remained in the classroom until 2017, rounding out close to sixty years of service to Georgia Tech over the course of seven decades.
Bill loved his family and students, Georgia Tech, books, birds, economics, learning, teaching, mowing, and making peach ice cream. He was a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the North Avenue Presbyterian Church, the Atlanta Economics Club, the Atlanta World War II Round Table, the Inquiry Club, and the Vinings Village Civic Club.
Dr. Schaffer is survived by his son Samuel Lonsdale Schaffer, his wife, Dana L. Schaffer, and granddaughter Ernestine Clark Schaffer, of Washington, DC; his son Edward Clark Schaffer, and his wife, Karleen Vogt Schaffer, and granddaughters Linley Capri Schaffer and Colby Rae Schaffer, of Easthampton, MA; his sister Sarah Ellen Hammond of Columbia, SC; his niece Allison Hammond Ford, of Gilbert, SC; his nephew Crockett Anderson Hammond Jr., of Clover, SC; and his cousin John Robert Harris of Hartwell, GA. If desired, contributions may be made to the William A. Schaffer Scholarship Endowment Fund (online at http://development.gatech.edu, click “Give Now” and note “William A. Schaffer Scholarship Endowment Fund” in the special purpose box; or mail check payable to the “Georgia Tech Foundation” to Georgia Tech Foundation, 760 Spring St NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308).
A service will be held on May 18, at 2:00 pm, at H. M. Patterson & Son Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Rd NE, Atlanta, GA.
