Wendell Wise Mayes Jr.

Wendell Wise Mayes Jr. (born March 2, 1924) is a former radio and cable television executive in Austin, Texas, who is known for his leadership roles with the American Diabetes Association and the International Diabetes Federation. The American Diabetes Association presents the Wendell Mayes Jr. Award for Lifetime Service, its highest award given to non-medical professional volunteers, to honor members for their lifetime achievement. He was the initial recipient of the award in 1986. Mayes is also a longtime supporter of education, earning five college degrees and establishing scholarships and awards at five higher education institutions in Texas.

Mayes is the son of radio station owner Wendell Mayes and Dorothy Evans Mayes. His paternal grandfather was newspaperman William Harding Mayes, Lt. Governor of Texas from 1913 to 1914 and the founder of the journalism school and first Dean of Journalism at the University of Texas. Mayes was born on Texas Independence Day, March 2, 1924, in San Antonio, Texas. His early years were spent in Brownwood, Texas, where he graduated from high school. In 1941 he attended Schreiner Institute in Kerrville, Texas, as a freshman. He transferred to the University of Texas in Austin in 1942, but he quit to enlist in the U. S. Navy for World War II.

Mayes was trained by the Navy as a radio and radar technician. He took a specialized course on the radar used on night fighter aircraft and was assigned to Fighting Squadron 3 aboard the USS Yorktown (CV-10), an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. He was serving on the Yorktown when the Third Fleet was caught in a typhoon in 1944 that sank three destroyers. His ship and squadron were awarded the Presidential Unit citation and four battle stars after participating in the campaign to retake the Philippines, the battle for Iwo Jima, the bombing of Saigon, the first full-scale air raids on Tokyo by carrier-based planes and several other battles. He was discharged from the Navy in March, 1946. In 2011 he was interviewed for the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.

After World War II ended, Mayes enrolled in Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock, Texas. Majoring in Electrical Engineering, he received a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in May, 1949. While at Texas Tech he served as president of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. After retiring from a career in radio broadcasting, Mayes returned to school. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from St. Edward's University in Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science in 2002 at age 78. He went on to earn a Master of Liberal Arts degree in 2005 and a Master of Business Administration in 2006 from St. Edward's University. Continuing his education, Mayes received a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Science from Walden University in May, 2013.

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