Wayne Wendell Daniel

Professor Wayne W. Daniel, age 92, of Chamblee passed away on February 16, 2021. He was born on February 14, 1929, near Tallapoosa, in Haralson County, Georgia. His parents were Lloyd Denver and Ora Cason Daniel. His first seven years of school were spent at Pine Grove Elementary School in Haralson County, one of the last active one-room schools in the state. He graduated from Tallapoosa High School (1947); West Georgia College (1949); the University of Georgia (1951) with a major in English and minor in mathematics; the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (1959), from which he received a Master of Public Health degree with concentration in biostatistics; and the University of Oklahoma (1965), where he earned a Ph.D degree with a major in biostatistics. Professor Daniel’s teaching career included stints at elementary schools in Haralson County; Villa Rica (Georgia) High School; and Georgia State University where, from 1968 to 1998, he taught statistics in the College of Business Administration and the College of Allied Health Sciences.

He served in the United States Army from July 1952 to July 1954. From 1957 to 1968 he was employed as a statistician with the Georgia Department of Public Health. He was the author of Pickin’ on Peachtree: A History of Country Music in Atlanta, Georgia, published by the University of Illinois Press; numerous magazine and scholarly journal articles on the subjects of country, bluegrass, and Southern gospel music; and five college textbooks on the subject of statistics. His book, Biostatistics: A Foundation for Analysis in the Health Sciences, first published in 1974 by John Wiley and Sons of New York, is still in print of its 11th edition. Besides his parents, Professor Daniel was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Yarbrough Daniel and his sister, Shirley Elliott. He is survived by his children, Jean O’Callaghan (Lee); Carolyn Anderson (Phil); and John Daniel (Lauren); grandchildren Lori O’Callaghan Wyse (Andrew); Elizabeth O’Callaghan Smith (Ryan); Joshua Daniel; and Sarah Anderson Petren (Ray); sister Kay Brooks (John); and great-grandchildren, Allison Wyse, Ethan Wyse, Imogen Smith, Connor Smith and Stanley Petren. Due to the pandemic, a private graveside funeral will be held at Pine Grove Baptist Church Cemetery, Tallapoosa, Georgia, followed by interment in the church cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to support the Wayne Daniel Endowment (02E36) at Georgia State University Library’s Popular Music and Culture Collection. Send donations to Georgia State University Foundation, Wayne Daniel Endowment, P.O. Box 2668 Atlanta, GA 30301-2668, or online at https://lib.gsu.edu/wdaniel