Ferdinand "Tony" Teele

FERDINAND TEELE

"Tony"

1934-2005

Founder and Chairman

Chemonics International

Washington, DC

Thurston Ferdinand "Tony" Teele, 70, chairman and founder of Chemonics International, Inc., died March 21, 2005, after a long battle with lymphoma, at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, DC, with his wife and children by his side. Mr. Teele was an active, compassionate humanitarian who was loved and will be missed by many throughout the world.

Mr. Teele was born in New Rochelle, NY and grew up in Needham, MA, where his father Stanley F. Teele was a faculty member and eventually dean of the Harvard Business School. Mr. Teele attended high school at Buckingham, Brown and Nichols in Cambridge, MA, where he excelled at varsity sports. At Amherst College, in Amherst, MA, he earned a B.A. in political science, while playing football and serving as editor of the school paper. He earned an M.A. in economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, Medford, MA, and completed the coursework for a Ph.D. (abd) in economics from Georgetown University, Washington, DC.

Mr. Teele, a longtime DC resident, began his career as a foreign service officer, working as a political officer in Greece and as an analyst in the USAID executive secretariat. From there he focused his career on economic development, living and working in such countries as Afghanistan, Liberia, Nigeria, Thailand and Turkey, until he founded Chemonics. Mr. Teele served as Chemonics' president from its founding in 1975 until 2002 when he became chairman of the board. Originally a one-man business, the company today has over 2,000 employees in 95 countries and is a leader in sponsored economic development worldwide. Mr. Teele is widely considered a pioneer in global economic development.

Mr. Teele was a strong proponent of a culturally appropriate, results-oriented approach to economic development. He worked to raise awareness of international development by serving as vice president and board member for the Campaign for U.S. Global Leadership, board member for the Society for International Development, and co-chair of the International Development Task Force of the Professional Services Council. As an associate professor, he taught a course on economic development at Georgetown University, and was frequently a guest lecturer on this topic at numerous institutions.

A natural linguist, Mr. Teele spoke fluent French and was comfortable speaking Spanish, German, Thai, Turkish, Portuguese, Greek, and Farsi. With a lifelong love for business and personal travel, he visited more than 85 countries on five continents. In spite of his illness, he continued to travel on behalf of Chemonics, visiting countries such as Afghanistan, China, Mongolia, South Africa, Denmark and France over the past two years.

Mr. Teele's legacy is his respect for people, his passion for development, and the values he lived every day. He achieved his dream to make the world a better place.

He is survived by his loving wife of 23 years Barbara C. Teele, formerly of Dothan, AL; five children, Ted Teele of Pittsburgh, PA, Stacia Teele of New York City, NY, Mark Carmichael of Scottsdale, AZ, Kristy Teele of Ledbury, England and Allan Teele of San Francisco, CA; and nine grandchildren. Mr. Teele is also survived by his brother, Perry Teele of Bradford, NH and his sister, Melissa Woodbury of St Augustine, FL.

Family will receive friends at a Memorial Service at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 2, at the National City Christian Church, 5 Thomas Circle, NW, Washington, DC. A reception will immediately follow at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium, 1301 Constitution Avenue, N.W.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia Program, (Attn: "Tony Teele Research Fund") and sent to Dana Farber Cancer Institute, D1B07-Christopher Patterson, 44 Binney Street, Boston, MA 02155. More information may be found at www.chemonics.com.