M. Mark Bando, the university's former chief accountant who retired as director of systems and procedures in 1981, died Jan. 23 in Detroit. He was 86.

Mr. Bando reported to former university controller William Dean, who remembers him as the primary architect of the university's accounting system.

"He converted the accounting system to computers in the early 1960s," Dean said, "and that system remained in use until the 1980s.

Mr. Bando was born of Japanese-descent in the San Francisco area and earned his bachelor's in accounting from Stanford University in 1936. After the start of World War II, Mr. Bando was incarcerated with other Japanese Americans at a camp in Utah, Dean remembered. "He met his wife there and, when released, they were not allowed to return to the West Coast. That's when he came east."

Mr. Bando worked for the city of Detroit from 1947-56, earning a second degree in philosophy from Wayne University in 1950. He joined the WSU staff in 1956,starting as an administrative assistant in audits and procedures. He was granted tenure in 1960 and eventually became director of the department under former vice president Charles Sturtz.

Survivors include his wife Michi, son Mark Jr. and daughter Elizabeth. Memorials may be directed to the Karmanos Cancer Institute or the American Diabetes Association.