"J. Van Wagstaff" Archive

Wagstaff, 'father of the economics department,' dies

wagstaff.200x275By Kerry M. King (’85), Wake Forest Magazine
Photo by Lee Reunion

J. Van Wagstaff amassed a number of noteworthy accomplishments during his 28 years on the faculty, but his most rewarding achievement, he once said, was teaching more than 6,000 students.

Leave it to an economist to tally the number of students who took his classes on public finance and micro and macro principles of economics from 1964 to 1992. Wagstaff, who helped establish the economics department in the late 1960s, died on July 13. He was 84.

He is survived by his wife, Marge; three children, Victoria Howell (’79), Terry Williams (’81) and Joseph Wagstaff Jr. (’80); and eight grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Augsburg Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem; the family will receive friends following the service.

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