Richard F. Wendel

Richard Frederick Wendel, economist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut, died suddenly on Monday March 22, 2010 at Chester River Manor, Chestertown, Md. He was 79. He and his wife, Leslie, moved to Chestertown in 1995, following his retirement from the University. Born on April 29, 1930 in Chicago, he grew up in Chicago and Silvis, II. He was a graduate of Augustana College, Rock Island, Il., Class of 1951. He received his MBA in 1957 from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in economics from Penn in 1966. He served with the United States Air Force, as Radar Bombardier, from 1951-1955. He was Assistant to the president of Flexonics Corp., Maywood, IL from 1957 to 1959 and sales representative and product manager, Kordite Division of National Distillers Corp., Macedon, NY from 1959 to 1962. His academic career included teaching at the Wharton School, the Graduate School of Business Administration at Washington University in St. Louis and at the Business School of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Dr. Wendel served on numerous state and federal advisory committees, including the U.S. Census Field Advisory Committee, the Academic Advisory Committee, Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Bureau of Census Survey of Consumer Expenditures and the Connecticut Export Development Council of the Department of Commerce. He was the author of a textbook Selling: Preparation. Persuasion. Strategy and from 1973 to 1981, was the editor of the annual Readings in Marketing, a textbook widely used in business schools throughout the country. He was a member of the editorial staff of the Journal of Marketing from 1965 to 1974. He was a member of the New York Academy of Sciences and the Penn Club of New York. He married Leslie Travis on June 15, 1957. In addition to his wife of 52 years, he leaves two sons, John Travis Wendel and Andrew Stewart Wendel and one grandson, Roswell Pasqua Wendel, all of Brooklyn, NY and two brothers, Earl Wendel of Moline, IL and George Wendel of Winnetka , CA. At Dr. Wendel’s request, there will be no services. His ashes will be taken to Paris, France, one of his favorite places and a city he visited 32 times. Arrangements by Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam Funeral Home, 130 Speer Rd, Chestertown, MD 21620.

Richard F. Wendel

April 29, 1930 - March 22, 2010