The Grainger College of Engineering

Wendell J. Kelley

Wendell J. Kelley
Wendell J. Kelley
To Wendell J. Kelley, utility executive, for his dynamic leadership and for his special concern for and attention to ecology.

President, Illinois Power Company, Decatur, Illinois

  • BS, Electrical Engineering, 1949

Since joining Illinois Power Company in 1949, Mr. Kelley has risen rapidly through a series of managerial positions in the company. Since he became president in 1966, he has been inspired by his strong desire to make the utility a good corporate citizen. Under his direction, the company became the first utility to provide underground electrical distribution system in new subdivisions without cost to the developers. He has also organized an environmental committee, with a full-time director reporting to him, which evaluates potential solutions to environmental problems. He was largely responsible for the organization of MAIN (Mid-America Interpool Network) and has served as its chairman from its inception. In recognition of this work, he was made a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 1971.

His leadership in business is evidence by his recent election to the chairmanship of the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the University of Illinois Foundation, University of Illinois Citizens Committee, a governing member of the Illinois Council on Economic Education, and president of the University of Illinois Electrical Engineering Alumni Association.

Current as of 1974.