Frank Wendt

1925 - 2018

Frank Wendt
Frank P. Wendt, Chairman of John Nuveen & Co., Investment Bankers of Chicago and New York, dies at 92.
Frank Wendt joined John Nuveen & Co. in 1947 as a trainee and spent his entire career there, eventually rising to become President, CEO, and Chairman. While at Nuveen, he introduced a range of new tax exempt bond products, the first of which, an issue of $1.5 billion, was at the time the largest IPO to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. When Frank retired in 1987, Nuveen Funds totaled more than $156 billion.
Frank was born in Chicago on November 8, 1925. As a young man, he attended the Admiral Farragut Academy, having received a scholarship to play the trumpet. In 1940, he became the Band Co. Ensign and in 1942 graduated as the Salutatorian of his class. He then enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps and was assigned to the Navy's V-12 ROTC Unit, which was established shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned as a 2nd lieutenant in the USMC Reserve at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. At the end of the war, he completed his degree at Northwestern University, graduating in 1946.
Following his 40 year tenure at Nuveen, Frank passionately applied his Wall Street experience as a tireless supporter of various non-profit organizations. He was a long-time Board member of Bates College and of the Bangor Theological Seminary, and served as Chairman of the Yale University Divinity School Board. He was also active as a fund-raiser for a large circle of other institutions, including the Admiral Farragut Academy, Oberlin College, the Pequot Library Association, the Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, and The Southport School in Southport CT.
Frank Wendt is survived by his loving wife of seventy years, Barbara Boothby Wendt. A memorial service to celebrate the life of Frank Wendt will be held at the Southport Congregationalist Church in Southport, CT on Friday, October 26 at 2:00 p.m.