Cortes Wesley Randell (September 28, 1935 – December 29, 2020) was an American businessman. Randell worked on the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. He also founded the National Student Marketing Corporation, and was president of

Federal News Service Federal News Service (FNS) is a Washington, D.C.–based company providing transcription services. FNS produces on-demand verbatim transcripts of newsworthy events in DC (including speeches, congressional hearings, and interviews) for its clients.< ...

.Broward-Palm Beach – News – Hustling for Models
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Career

Randell was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on September 28, 1935. His parents were Cortes Gilbert Randell (1896-1996) and Carolina Edna (née Schmidt) Randell (1905-1946). Randell had one sibling, Marguerite. Randell graduated from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

with an engineering degree in 1959. He was a member of the Jefferson Society. Randell worked for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

where he worked in the first nuclear submarine, the ''Sea Wolf''. While at General Electric, he also worked on the

Ballistic Missile Early Warning System The RCA 474L Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS, "474L System", Project 474L) was a United States Air Force Cold War early warning radar, computer, and communications system, for ballistic missile detection. The network of twelve ra ...

which replaced the

Dew Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proj ...

radars in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. After leaving General Electric, Randell worked for the

ITT Corporation ITT Inc., formerly ITT Corporation, is an American worldwide manufacturing company based in Stamford, Connecticut. The company produces specialty components for the aerospace, transportation, energy and industrial markets. ITT's three businesses ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the electronics company for the worldwide warning system at

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Air ...

. In 1966, Randell founded the National Student Marketing Corporation, which marketed to high school and college-aged students. In 1968, the National Student Marketing Corporation went public as NSMC. NSMC worked with clients including ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', Ford, and American Airlines, through advertising agencies including

J. Walter Thompson J. Walter Thompson (JWT) was an advertisement holding company incorporated in 1896 by American advertising pioneer James Walter Thompson. The company was acquired in 1987 by multinational holding company WPP plc, and in November 2018, WPP merge ...

, Ted Bates and Co, Boyle Dane and Bernbach. He resigned his position as president in 1970. NMSC was sold to

Fireman's Fund Insurance Company Fireman's Fund Insurance Company was an insurance company based in Petaluma, California which provided personal and commercial property and casualty insurance products in the United States. The company was a principal U.S. subsidiary of Allianz, ...

in 1981 for $54 million. In 1975, Randell pleaded guilty to misrepresenting the company's earning and was sentenced to 18 months in prison for stock fraud. In 1979, a federal jury convicted Randell of mail and stock fraud for his involvement with the National Commercial Credit Corp, a new fraud he perpetrated (with deputy assistant secretary of labor, John B. Mumford) while Cortes was still serving time from his first conviction! He was sentenced to seven years in prison, and released in 1984. In 1984, Randell became president of Federal News Service. He later became president and chairman of the board of directors of United Savings Club, a company featuring consumer discounts, which was reported to be investigated by Orlando Police Department's Economic Crime Unit. Randell served as Chairman and Director of a company called eModel, a wholly owned subsidiary of Options Talent Group, which was under investigation for alleged unethical and illegal behavior. The senior assistant attorney general for the state of Florida found that no substantial violation of the law could be found and recommended the investigation be closed. Randell married Joan Violet Wirz in 1968. Randell died in Texas on December 29, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Randell, Cortes Wesley Living people University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American people convicted of fraud American businesspeople 1935 births