Keith Wheelock

After graduating from Exeter in 1951, Keith headed for Yale, which provided an intellectually stimulating environment for him, and he became an Intensive History major. In January of 1955, during his senior year, Keith was struck by a tragedy, so unexpected and of such magnitude as to be almost unbelievable. His father, stepmother, brother, and close family friends were sailing on the family schooner in the area of the Bermuda Triangle. They were lost at sea, and never found. After graduation, Keith had considered returning to the Middle East, but dealing with family issues required him to stay in Philadelphia. While there, he taught seventh grade at the Haverford School, and started on a master’s program in international history at the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to the University of Pennsylvania, he completed the master’s at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He had taken the foreign service exam, and became a career diplomat. After returning to Washington, he worked in African Intelligence and Research, and then volunteered to go back to the Congo in 1964. After another posting in Chile for three years, at a time when he disagreed with U.S. policy, Mr. Wheelock began to think that he needed a change. After a brief stint of teaching at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he went to work in Mayor John Lindsay’s administration in New York City, in the office of programs, policy, and housing. he found his way to the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation, where he created international bond ratings and was later responsible for Moody’s worldwide debt instrument ratings. Later, he was promoted to executive vice president, served with the Dun & Bradstreet Group, and ran Dun & Bradstreet’s management consulting company for seven years. After a divorce in 1975, Mr. Wheelock had been living in Manhattan, and then in 1978, he decided to relocate to Montgomery Township, where he later opened his own company. In 1992, he started teaching world and American civilization at Raritan Valley Community College.