Neillsville Man’s Estate To Benefit UW-Madison

A $3 million gift from the estate of 1940 UW graduate Archie E. Stockwell, also known as Richard E. Stockwell, will establish a graduate fellowship fund, a research fund and a chair in the Department of Economics. In addition to his support for the Department of Economics, the university’s Elvehjem Museum of Art is a benefactor of his personal art collection and estate. Funds from his estate will be administered by the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

“This is an extremely generous gift that will have a significant impact on our department,” said James Walker, chair of the Department of Economics. “It also is an unusual gift because it is structured in a flexible way allowing us to compete for a world-class economist, conduct more research within the department and help graduate students with fellowships.”

A journalist and business executive, Stockwell died on April 5, 1996 at the age of 79. He was born on March 12, 1917 in Neillsville, Wisconsin. He received his bachelor of science degree in biochemistry and economics in 1940 and earned a master’s degree in economics and government from the University of Minnesota in 1945.

Stockwell began his career in radio at stations in Cincinnati, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Minneapolis. He also wrote for Aviation Week, The Wall Street Journal and numerous other publications. He received a Niemen Fellowship and was one of a dozen newsmen chosen to study in that prestigious program at Harvard University. Stockwell went on to become a member of the editorial page staff at the Minneapolis Star and later held editorial positions for several publications including Aviation Age, later called Space/Aeronautics, Monsanto Magazine and American Aviation Publications, Inc.

He toured the U.S.S.R. in 1957 and again in 1958, and wrote numerous trade magazine articles about the Soviet Union. He also was the author of the book, Soviet Air Power. Stockwell, who had his pilot’s license, served as a consultant to General Electric’s Flight Propulsion Laboratory Department, helping them improve their proposals and presentations to the Air Force and prime airframe manufacturers. The final 18 years of his career were spent with the Avco Corporation, first as a group director of public relations and advertising for three divisions, and then as vice president of the Commercial and Industrial Products Group.

Stockwell was a member of the American Economics Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, The Wings Club (New York) and The National Press Club. In 1976 he retired and moved from Nashville, Tennessee, returning to his hometown of Neillsville, Wisconsin.