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Robert Wendell is married to a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who is now a longtime naturalized U.S. citizen. He is a professional musician (violin; trumpet), choral director, and voice teacher. He also has a technical background in electronics and an industrial background in tech support for information technology as well as recruiting engineers for very high-tech positions in the avionics industry. He has a Master's Degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Florida, Gainesville and decades of experience in directing choirs and teaching voice. He studied voice at New England Conservatory under the late Lav Vrbanic, who had formerly chaired for 26 years the vocal department of the Zagreb Academy of Music in the former Yugoslavia.
Robert studied physics and mathematics in undergraduate school and maintains a strong interest in the latest developments in theoretical physics. He occasionally dabbles in poetry writing and feels strongly that a well-rounded education includes a basic understanding of and experience in the arts and a good layperson's command of elementary mathematical and scientific principles. He sees this as vital in this highly technological age. He believes the ideal education integrates the scientist and the artist and teaches independent, critical, and creative thinking. He finds these fields to be much more intimately related than most people even begin to imagine.
Robert grew up mostly in Clarksville, Tennessee, which he considers the closest thing he has to a home town. He has also lived in Mississippi, Chicago, Cambridge, MA, Nashville, Iowa, Gainesville, FL, Buenos Aires, Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala City, and various locations around Lake Lucerne in Switzerland. He has visited Italy, France, Germany, Vienna, Austria, and Hungary. He currently resides in Charlotte, NC. He has a strong spiritual orientation that is very inclusive and nothing remotely akin to religious fundamentalism. He speaks Spanish with an Argentine accent and is fluent to the point of often being mistaken for a native speaker. He has known enough French and German that with very little renewed exposure he can manage in remote regions in which English is not spoken.
(24 comments) SHARE Sunday, February 2, 2014 The Great Mismatch: Labor Demand and the Supply Profile
There is currently an obvious gap between labor supply and demand. Equally if not more important is the somewhat less obvious mismatch between the profiles of labor demand and that of its supply. We have plenty of jobs that too few are qualified to supply with their labor. How did we let this happen and what can we do about it?
(4 comments) SHARE Friday, December 20, 2013 Politics and Basic Research
The current lack of funding for basic research is threatening our scientific and technological leadership in the world. This carries with it a very high, long term economic cost. It not only threatens the standard of living, but reduces the environmental factors that encourage and reward creative joy and invention, whether scientific, technological, or artistic.