Richard Wilson entered the senior securities business in 1960 after serving two years with the U.S. Army. He held senior analytical/marketing positions with F.S. Smithers, Drexel Harriman Ripley, and E.F. Hutton, among others. From 1975 to 1989 he was at White Weld & Co. and subsequently Merrill Lynch Capital Markets where he was first vice president and director of taxable fixed income research.
In 1989 Dick joined Fitch Investors Service Inc. (now Fitch Inc.). He held a number of senior positions at the firm including head of the regional management group in the firm's business development division, head of private placement rating marketing, director of research products and services, and advisor to the Fitch Investment Services Database. He retired from Fitch in January 2000.
A founding and life member of the Fixed Income Analysts Society, he served the Society in many capacities as an officer and committee chairman during its fledgling years. He has written extensively on corporate finance topics, including three books, and has spoken frequently before academic and professional groups. He has been published in Friends of Financial History and other periodicals.
He holds an MS from the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University (1958) and a BS in Economics with a concentration in corporate finance from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Commerce (1957).
