WALTER B. GERKEN ’48

WALTER B. GERKEN, a Wesleyan trustee emeritus, the former CEO of Pacific Life Insurance Company, and a founder of PIMCO, died Oct. 5, 2015, at age 93. He was a member of Delta Tau Delta. After attending the University of Vermont, from which he had to withdraw due to lack of funds, he worked various odd jobs and then enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He became a B-24 flight navigator and served through the end of the war, attaining the rank of Captain and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. After the war, he attended Wesleyan on the GI bill and graduated with a degree in economics. After earning a master’s degree in 1950 in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, he became a budget analyst for the state of Wisconsin. In 1954, he was hired by Northwestern Mutual Life as an investment specialist in their bond department, where he became an expert in transportation finance. In the 13 years he spent there, he rose to Manager of Investments, in addition to being elected to the Milwaukee School Board and serving on the boards of the World Affairs Council and Planned Parenthood. In 1967, Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company hired him to be their financial vice president and chief investment officer. Two years later, he recommended that because their investment division invested the company’s assets so well, they should create a subsidiary to invest third-party money, a subsidiary called PIMCO, the Pacific Investment Management Company, which today manages $1.5 trillion and is the largest bond fund manager in the word. Pacific Mutual promoted him to executive vice president in 1969 and president in 1972. He became chairman and CEO in 1975, serving in those positions until his retirement in 1986. Under his tenure, Pacific Life nearly quadrupled in size and achieved his goal of becoming one of the top 20 largest life insurance companies in America. He served on numerous boards and was chairman of the American Council of Life Insurance in 1981. In 1982 and 1983 he chaired the California Business Roundtable, an association of the state’s largest corporations. A believer in giving back to his community, he also served as a director of the United Way of America, and of numerous other community organizations. His belief in the power and importance of education led him to, among other things serve as a trustee of Wesleyan from 1971 to 1981, after which he became a Trustee Emeritus. In 1987 he received the University’s highest alumni honor, the Baldwin Medal. He also chaired the Board of Trustees of Occidental College and received the University of California at Irvine’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, for his contributions to the school. In addition, UC, Irvine, endowed the Walter B. Gerken Chair in Enterprise and Society in 1998. His beloved wife, Darlene Stolt Gerken, died in 2009. Survivors include six children, including Walter C. Gerken ’75 and Ellen Gerken Mainthow ’77; 14 grandchildren; and two brothers, including F. James Gerken ’58.