"[1][2][3] Born in Milwaukee, Horngren joined the U.S. Army after high school graduation in 1946.
Back in Milwaukee, he obtained his BA in accounting at the Marquette University in 1949.
In 1952 he obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School, and in 1955 his PhD from University of Chicago.
In 1966 he moved to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he spent the rest of his academic career.
[1] Inspired by the work of William J. Vatter, Horngren published the influential textbook Cost Accounting: A Managerial Emphasis, in 1962.