Professor Emeritus in Communication Studies, UNC. He spent his entire career in higher education in the Triangle. He earned a B.S. from North Carolina State University in 1932, an M.A. from UNC in 1954 and a Ph.D. from Duke University in 1962. All three of his degrees were in history, with a minor in political science. He was an announcer, assistant program director and production manager of Raleigh radio station WPTF. He enlisted in the service as a private December 5, 1942, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. During World War II, he was stationed in the Philippines, where he became officer-in-charge of armed forces radio in Manila. In 1946, he was named director of the U.S. Armed Forces Radio Service. He returned to North Carolina in 1952 and taught in UNC-CH's Department of Radio, Television and Motion Pictures for nearly 30 years. He began as a lecturer in 1952 and was a full professor by 1966. In 1962, he was acting chairman of the department; the following year, he was named department chair, a position he held until he retired in 1980. He was inducted into the N.C. Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in 1976. He was the recipient of both the Frank Stanton Award as the nation's outstanding broadcast educator in 1980 and the N.C. Association of Broadcasters' Distinguished Service Award in 1978. He married Carolyn Andrews Daniel February 23, 1956, in Alamance County, North Carolina.
There is documentation that Wesley was born in Denver, Colorado. His parents were married in Colorado, but by the 1920 census they were living in Bainbridge, Decatur, Georgia. The 1920-1940 census have him and his sister born in Georgia. On the WWII Draft Registration, he was described: Born in Denver, Colorado