P. Henry Mueller

P. Henry Mueller of Summit passed away peacefully on April 9, 2015. Henry was born in Brooklyn, NY, on June 24, 1917. When he graduated from high school in 1934, he aspired to become a journalist, but no post was available. He took a “temporary” job at Citibank as a page and studied economics nights at New York University. When a New York Times offer came, he couldn’t accept it because of conflicting hours. The bank then paid his way through Princeton. When he graduated in 1941, he was recruited for the diplomatic service and posted to Panama, then Cairo. His first assignment, developing courier networks, was shadowy and took him over much of the world. In 1944, he was present at the Breton Woods monetary and financial conference. He then volunteered for the Marines, becoming adjutant of a Corsair fighter squadron and attaining the rank of captain.

In 1946, he returned to the State Department and was appointed secretary of the Second West Indian Conference, convened to improve economic and social conditions throughout the islands. Following this, he rejoined Citibank, rising through the ranks to become chairman of its credit policy committee, overseeing a $77 billion loan portfolio.

He was a visiting lecturer at the University of Virginia for twenty-one years and founding chairman of the Darden School’s Center for International Banking Studies. Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh awarded him a doctorate in 1981, honoring him as “a leading innovator and thinker in the field of banking and education”. He was a fruitful author and teacher, inspiring generations of bankers to develop professionally.

When he retired from banking in June 1982, Mueller became chairman of SAAB Cars in this country and served on the boards of Skandinaviska Enskilida Banen (NY), Atlas Copco, and other companies in the Wallenberg group. He was chairman of the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce-USA and a director of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation in the U.S. The King of Sweden decorated him with the Order of the Polar Star in 1986.

Henry is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Jean Mueller (nee Vreeland), his son Donald V. Mueller, Sr., grandson, Donald V. Mueller, Jr., granddaughters, Laura Mueller Dorsey and her husband Thomas C., Julia U. Mueller and great-granddaughter, Charlotte Grace Dorsey.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at 3 pm at Central Presbyterian Church, 70 Maple Ave, Summit, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Henry’s name to the Trustees of Princeton University. Arrangements by Bradley Brough & Dangler Funeral Home, Summit, NJ.