Edwin Deacon (Ted) Etherington (December 25, 1924 – January 8, 2001) was an American writer, lawyer, and civil rights advocate, who served as president of the

American Stock Exchange NYSE American, formerly known as the American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and more recently as NYSE MKT, is an American stock exchange situated in New York City. AMEX was previously a mutual organization, owned by its members. Until 1953, it was known ...

and

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

Biography

Etherington was born in

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

. He served in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, then graduated from

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

in 1948 with a bachelor's degree in creative writing, and attended Yale University Law School, where he received a degree in 1952. As a lawyer he specialized in banking and brokerage before working at the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

, where he became vice-president. Its reputation recently damaged by charges of mismanagement, in 1962 the

named Etherington its president. At AMEX he was credited with improving opportunities for minorities and women. In 1967 he became president of Wesleyan, where he increased minority enrollment and restored a coeducational environment. Etherington was instrumental in the creation of the university's Center for African American Studies, its Center for the Arts, and a scholarship program for Connecticut community college graduates that bears his name. In 1970 Etherington left Wesleyan to make an unsuccessful run for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

as a Republican candidate from Connecticut. He was appointed by President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

to head the

National Center for Voluntary Action The National Center for Voluntary Action was an independent, private, non-profit organization that existed in the 1970s, and then extended on in merged forms, that sought to encourage volunteerism on the part of American citizens and organizations, ...

References

Edwin Etherington, 76, Ex-Amex President, The New York Times, January 15, 2001An Exceptional Character, CNN Money, January 12, 2001Richard Nixon: "Statement About the Election of Edwin D. Etherington as President of the National Center for Voluntary Action," March 23, 1971. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Etherington, Edwin 1924 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American academics American civil rights lawyers Presidents of Wesleyan University Wesleyan University people