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Prior to entering college teaching, Wardrip was employed by Armstrong World Industries in Lancaster, Pa., the hometown of his wife, the former Dorothy Louise Hafer. At Armstrong he held positions as a public relations product publicity supervisor and an advertising research analyst.

He began his college teaching career in 1970 at The University of Texas as a visiting professor in the Department of Journalism. He entered the Ph.D. program the following year, serving three years as a teaching assistant. Beginning in 1974, he taught for 12 years in the School of Mass Communications at Texas Tech University. While at Tech, he served five years as director of the Advertising and Public Relations Sequence. Wardrip was one of two faculty members selected to acquire the papers of the late advertising executive Don Belding, co-founder of Foote Cone & Belding advertising agency. The papers are now housed in a collection at Tech.

In 1986 he joined the faculty of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of South Carolina and served two, two-year terms as chair of the Advertising and Public Relations Sequence. While at USC, he conducted numerous workshops for advertising and public relations professionals and served two years as director of the “Advanced IRS Public Affairs Course,” a summer program held at USC for the Internal Revenue Service.

During his teaching career, Wardrip coached three academic competition teams to top-10 finishes in the American Advertising Federation National Student Advertising Competition. He was named Southwest Advertising Educator of the Year by the AAF, received six Mortar Board “Excellence in Teaching” awards at USC, and was a co-author of the 2001 book “Advertising & the Business of Brands.” He also developed a May Session course where, over the past ten years, he took more than 100 USC advertising and public relations students to New York City where they met with media professionals, most of them Wardrip’s former students.

Wardrip was a board member of the Lubbock and Columbia chapters of the United Way and the American Advertising Federation, chair of the Seven Oaks Elementary School Improvement Council, and a board member of the Gardendale Neighborhood Association. He was also a member of Shandon United Methodist Church and its JOY Sunday School class.

His life was very much one of friendships. He valued first, his loving family and second, his many friends, colleagues, classmates, and former students from around the country.

Surviving are his best friend and beloved wife of 36 years, Dorothy H., of Columbia; daughter Sara W. Armstrong and son-in-law David B. of Alexandria, Va.; son Matthew P. Wardrip, also of Alexandria, Va.; and dear friend and brother James T. Wardrip and sister-in-law Cherry T. of Racine, Wisconsin.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Tripp Jones and the staff of South Carolina Oncology Associates, Dr. Joseph Moore and the staff of Duke Medical University, and the staff of Lexington Hospital for their dedicated care and support.

Memorials may be made to the Jon P. Wardrip Scholarship Fund at the University of South Carolina, School of Journalism, Carolina Coliseum, Columbia, SC 29208.