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Brigadier General
Philip J. Erdle
Permanent Professor 1964–1979
Vice Dean of the Faculty 1973–1978
B.S., United States Military Academy
M.S., University of Michigan
Ph.D., University of Colorado
Phil Erdle, the Academy’s 13th Permanent Professor, was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in 1930. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY, in 1952 and was commissioned into the USAF. Phil entered primary pilot training at Bartow Air Base, FL, and continued at Bryan AFB, TX, where he received his pilot’s wings in 1953. Phil received advanced flying instruction at Langley AFB, VA, and was assigned to the 5th Fighter Weapons Squadron, where he advanced to Flight Commander and Assistant Operations Officer. In 1956 he became the Aide-de-Camp to the 36th Fighter Bomber Wing Commander. Phil entered graduate school at the University of Michigan in 1958, graduating in 1960 with a Master’s degree in Engineering Mechanics. He then was assigned as an Instructor in the Academy’s Department of Mechanics. In 1963 he became Assistant Dean for Research in addition to his teaching duties. During these years, Phil completed the work for a PhD in Engineering Science and was awarded the degree by the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1964. Phil was appointed Permanent Professor in 1964 and promoted to lieutenant colonel. He served as Professor of Mechanics and Assistant Dean, Basic and Engineering Sciences from 1964 to 1965, when he became the Head of the newly designated Department of Engineering Mechanics. Phil co-authored Engineering Mechanics: Statics and Dynamics with Archie Higdon, Arthur W. Davis, William B. Stiles, and John A. Weese, published in 1968. He was an advisor to the Vietnamese National Military Academy, publishing a curriculum evaluation report in 1968 (with R.E. Thomas). In 1971 the department was renamed the Department of Engineering Science, Mechanics and Materials with Phil remaining as Department Head. From 1970 to 1978 he was the Academy’s Faculty Representative to the NCAA. He served as the Vice Dean of the Faculty from 1973 to 1978. Phil Erdle was promoted to brigadier general and retired from the USAF in early 1979.
Following his retirement, Phil worked for the Bechtel Corporation in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, where he managed numerous educational projects that helped transform the educational system of the Kingdom. Upon returning to Colorado, he founded the International Education Foundation, mentoring small minority-owned businesses in a first-of-its-kind business incubator in Colorado Springs. Subsequently Phil started several small minority-owned businesses in Colorado Springs. In 1984 Phil co-founded and served as President of the Academy Research and Development Institute (ARDI), establishing and managing endowed professorial chairs for the Academy. ARDI remains a major supporter of the Dean of Faculty and Academy missions. In recognition of his contributions, Phil was named an Honorary Member of the USAFA Association of Graduates and received the Superintendent’s Award for Distinguished Service to the USAF and the USAFA. In 2002 The Philip J. Erdle Chair in Engineering Science was established in his honor by ARDI. Phil died in 2013 and is buried in the Air Force Academy Cemetery.