Wendell Wise Mayes Jr.

Mayes was a descendant of the 1611 second settlement of Jamestown, Virginia.

His direct male ancestor, William, was pastor at Kequoghton and played an instrumental role in the early development of the Virginia Company and its continuation after the massacre of over three hundred peaceful indigenous people on March 22, 1622 by directly engaging with King James I on its behalf.

The Mayes surname originates as a toponymic reference to the Meuse (or Maas) river in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and can trace its original arrival in the British Isles to the Hanseatic League.

In the Netherlands and Belgium, the family was prominent and well established throughout the sixth and seventh centuries.

Mayes was a radio broadcasting and cable television executive for fifty years.

He and his family owned radio stations in the Texas cities of Austin, Brownwood, Fort Worth, Midland, Snyder and Victoria and in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

with controlling interests in Pioneer Broadcasting Company, Midland Broadcasting Company, and Independence Broadcasting Company.

All were founded by his father, Wendell Mayes, and colloquially referred to as the "Wendell Mayes Stations" and operated jointly out of Austin, Texas.

His cable interests were in Hereford, Corsicana, and Snyder, Texas, and Pauls Valley and Choctaw, Oklahoma.

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.

Wendell Wise Mayes Jr. (March 2, 1924 – September 12, 2021) was an American radio and cable television executive in Austin, Texas, who was 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.

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 (now Schreiner University) in Kerrville, Texas, as a freshman.

He transferred to the University of Texas at 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.

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.

Mayes served as a Regent at Odessa Junior College in 1969-70 and as a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin 1978-80.

Mayes and his family members have established scholarships at Texas Tech University, the University of Texas at Austin, Schreiner University, St. Edward's University and Texas Woman's University.

In 1978 he was named to their Mass Communications Hall of Fame.

Texas Tech University named Mayes a distinguished alumnus in 1981 and a distinguished engineer in 1985.

He served as a member of the Texas Tech Board of Regents from 1985 to 1991, leading it as chairman from 1986 to 1988.

He was the initial recipient of the award in 1986.

Mayes was also a longtime supporter of education, earning five college degrees and establishing scholarships and awards at five higher education institutions in Texas.

Mayes was the son of radio station owner Wendell Mayes and Dorothy Evans Mayes.

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.

Schreiner University in Kerrville named Mayes a distinguished alumnus in 2006.

St. Edward's University presented him with the Distinguished Alumnus, MLA Program award in 2010.

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.

Continuing his education, Mayes received a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Science from Walden University in May 2013.

He received the Lifelong Learning Award from St. Edward's University in 2013.