Stanley Wainer, Former Wyle CEO, Dies at 73

Stanley A. Wainer, former president and CEO of Wyle Electronics in Irvine, died on Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 73.

Wainer joined the company as vice president of finance in 1962 and served in a succession of management positions including executive vice president, president, CEO, chairman of the board and chairman of the executive committee. He retired from Wyle Electronics in 1997.

After Wainer’s retirement, the company was acquired by German industrial concern Veba AG but retained its name and Irvine headquarters.

Michael Rohleder, the company’s current president and CEO, described Wainer as a driving force behind Wyle’s growth from a small regional business to one of the top semiconductor and computer-systems distributors in North America.

Wainer also served as a director of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., was a director and chairman of the board of the California Chamber of Commerce, served as a University of California regent and was president and director of the UCLA Alumni Assn.