Ted Wilson papers, 1976-1988

Ted Wilson was born on 18 May 1939 in Salt Lake City Utah. He attended schools in Salt Lake City, graduating from South High School in 1957, and from the University of Utah in 1964. He received a B.S. degree in economics and education from the University of Washington in 1969. From 1957-1963, Wilson served in the Utah Army National Guard and was discharged with the rank of Radar Sergeant. He married Kathryn (Kathy) Carling in 1963. They had five children: Benjamin, Jennifer, Melissa, Jessica, and Joseph.

Wilson was an instructor at the Leysin American School in Leysin, Switzerland from 1964 to 1965. After returning from Europe he taught economics at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City for seven years and worked summers as a ranger in Grand Teton National Park. In March 1973, he was appointed administrative assistant and field representative to Congressman Wayne Owens. In April 1975, he was appointed director of the department of Social Services in Salt Lake County. In 1975, he ran for mayor of Salt Lake City, and was sworn in as the city's twenty-ninth mayor on 5 January 1976.

As Mayor, Wilson advocated and promoted growth and development for the City. He was a driving force in the modernization of the Salt Lake International Airport. One of Wilson's most significant accomplishments occurred in 1979 when the mayor led the movement to change city government from a five-member, partisan commission form to a more representative and modern seven-member, non-partisan council form. Wilson served as mayor until 1 July 1985 when he accepted and adjunct professor of political science at the University of Utah. At the University he handled fundraising for the Hinckley Institute, contracted and arranged national leaders and political figures visits to the University, and oversaw the Institute's intern program. He also taught several political science courses.

Wilson's book, Utah's Wasatch Front, was about life along Utah's Wasatch Front and explored the contrast of city and canyons, basin and range, and problems and promise in one of America's fastest growing metropolitan areas.

Wilson served on many voluntary local boards including the Intermountain Health Care Board, the Utah Arboretum Board, the University of Utah Medical School Advisory Board, and the University of Utah Alumni Board.