Walter W. Head
| Walter William Head | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 4th President of the Boy Scouts of America | |
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In office May 1926 – 1931 |
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| Preceded by | Milton A. McRae |
| Succeeded by | Mortimer L. Schiff |
| 6th President of the Boy Scouts of America | |
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In office 1931–1946 |
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| Preceded by | Mortimer L. Schiff |
| Succeeded by | Amory Houghton |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 18, 1877 Adrian, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | May 3, 1954 (aged 76) Stamford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Cause of death | pneumonia |
| Spouse(s) | Della Thompson |
| Children | one daughter |
| Parents | Alfred Walter Head and Margaret Jane Lambert |
| Occupation | Business |
Walter William Head (December 18, 1877 – May 3, 1954) was an American banker and insurance executive. He was president and founder of the General American Life Insurance Company, now a part of MetLife, and president of the American Bankers Association. Head also served as national president of the Boy Scouts of America for nearly twenty years, from 1926 to 1946.
Walter William Head was born December 18, 1877 on a farm near Adrian, Illinois. He was the first of five children born to Alfred Walter Head and Margaret Jane Lambert. The New York Times said that Head "was deeply influenced by his mother, a devout woman who imbued him with a warm, human philosophy of life". At age 8, he moved with his family to a rural area of DeKalb County, Missouri, where he attended public schools. After graduating from Northwest Missouri State Teachers College (Maryville), Head began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse and, at age 24, was named school principal in the town of De Kalb, Missouri.
Head left teaching for the banking field in 1904, starting as a bank cashier at age 26. In 1917, he was named vice president of Omaha National Bank in Omaha, Nebraska, becoming the bank's president in 1920. During his time as bank president in Omaha, Walter Head also became president of the American Bankers Association and a director of New York Life Insurance Company.
In 1929, Head took over as president of State Bank of Chicago. Upon his arrival, Head guided State Bank through a merger with Foreman National. When Foreman National was acquired by First National Bank in 1931, Walter Head resigned to become president of Morris Plan Corp., a New York-based banking organization making small loans to moderate income families through banks in more than 100 U.S. cities. At the time, Morris Plan was the largest industrial banking system in the U.S., with $200 million in annual business and 800,000 customers.
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