Thaddeus H. Spratlen (1930 - May 18, 2021) was an American economist who was Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business.
[2] Born in 1930 in Union City, Tennessee, Spratlen was sent north to Cleveland, Ohio by his family for greater educational opportunities available to African-Americans there.
He graduated from Central High School (Cleveland, Ohio) and began his college studies at Kent State University.
[3] However, economic constraints after the death of his father led him to enroll in the U.S. Army, where he served as an artillery officer in the Korean War.
[3] Spratlen was offered a position at Western Washington State College in 1962, when the head of the search committee removed the photos of the finalists from their application materials.