Wynne James III ’50

Wynne died Jan. 14, 2020. As part of his focus on energy conservation, Wynne bicycled more than 150,000 miles in his lifetime, pedaling 18 miles a day to his federal jobs in Washington, D.C.

He was a St. Paul’s graduate. At Princeton, where his father was in the Class of 1924, he went out for crew, was a member of the Liberal Union, and belonged to Charter. He graduated from the School of Public and International Affairs with high honors.

He served three years in the Army, teaching Russian to intelligence students. After that, he began a 54-year career in the federal government. His tours included 10 years in the CIA, 10 in the assistant secretary of defense’s office, a brief stint on the White House staff, a directorship in the Department of Energy, and deputy head of NATO’s Petroleum Planning Committee.

He parlayed a fellowship to Columbia into a master’s in international affairs. His hobbies included genealogy and the Shakespeare authorship issue, with a number of pieces in The New York Times and other publications. He also authored a number of books.

Wynne is survived by his third wife, Elizabeth; five children, Nina, Susan, Benjamin, Anne ’79, and Caroline ’05; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His brother Keen ’51 predeceased him.