E. William "Bill" Dinkelacker

E. Wiliam (Bill) Dinkelacker passed away on August 24, 2025.

Dr. Dinkelacker earned a Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1969.

From 1964 until 1977, Bill was a professor at Georgetown University. Some of his colleagues and graduate students from Georgetown University became life-long friends. In 1964, he also bought a Corvette Sting Ray which he drove until recently.

From 1977 to 1980, he commuted from his home in Maryland to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was a professor and Chair and Director of the Energy and Regulatory Economics Program at University of Nebraska. He also was a professional consultant for several companies, including the Omaha Public Power District. He has written numerous publications in scholarly journals.

From October 1983 until July 1984, Bill lived in Kuwait as Senior Advisor to Chairman and Executive Vice President of TAGI International. This position required extensive travel throughout the Middle East.

Dr. Dinkelacker then spent 30 years in the United States government. He served in the Department of Commerce, General Services Administration, Department of Energy, and Office of Management and Budget. At the time of his retirement in 2000, he was Senior Economic Advisor to the President in the Treasury Department.

After his retirement from the Treasury Department, Bill consulted in several legal cases, preparing reports on economic losses, and testifying as an expert witness. On one occasion, after seeing results on a spreadsheet, he declared, "I love being an economist!"

Bill and his wife Janet traveled extensively, often taking one of their grandsons with them, and sometimes joined by his sister Heidi and her husband. When arriving in a foreign country, he liked to hire a cab to show him around. He would then discuss economics with the driver. He would end the tour at an open market where he enjoyed looking at all the produce, and of course, always on the lookout for another elephant to add to his collection.

Long after leaving Georgetown University, Bill enjoyed getting together with a group of Georgetown Professors for a semi-weekly poker game. For many years, Bill and a few friends had season tickets to the Baltimore Orioles Sunday afternoon games. He also enjoyed gardening and had a large collection of house plants.

He was a loving and generous person. When a grandson couldn't decide between two desserts, "Opa" told him to order both. On another occasion, when a young woman asked for money because she had run out of gas, he filled her tank instead of giving her money. Later, he said he felt bad about it because he could have done more for her.

Dr. Dinkelacker is survived by his wife Janet E. Joy, his sister Heidi Boehmer of Berlin, Germany, his son Ted Dinkelacker, and his daughter Diana Moldafsky, five grandchildren: Ryan, Teddy, and Michael Dinkelacker, and Alex and Nina Moldafsky, a niece Barbara Clark, and her family, as well as numerous other nieces and nephews.