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Brigadier General
Wallace E. Fluhr
Permanent Professor 1966–1981
B.S., University of Kentucky
M.S., University of Illinois
Ph.D., University of Illinois
Wallace Emory “Em” Fluhr, the Academy’s 20th Permanent Professor, was born in 1932 and raised on a farm in Jefferson County, Kentucky. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in 1954 from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, as a Distinguished Graduate of AFROTC. He was called to active duty immediately by the Air Force and served as Base Engineer until 1957 at Gunter AFB, AL. He then entered graduate school at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where he earned both his Master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy degree in Structural Dynamics in 33 months. In 1960 Em was assigned as the Chief, Design Criteria and Research Division, AF Ballistic Missile Division, Los Angeles Air Force Station, to design protective shelters for the Titan II and Minuteman ballistic missile weapon systems. He received the Air Force Systems Command Annual Award for Scientific Achievement in 1961 for his work on this program. Although only a captain, he also was awarded the Legion of Merit for his efforts. In 1963 Em came to the Air Force Academy as an Instructor in the Department of Mechanics. He progressed through the academic ranks to Associate Professor and started the Civil Engineering program. He was selected as Permanent Professor in 1966 and named Professor of Civil Engineering. Em worked on the Dean of Faculty staff for two years before he was named Head of the Department of Civil Engineering in 1968. In the summer of 1973 he was appointed Head of the combined Department of Civil Engineering, Engineering Mechanics and Materials and served in that capacity for six years. As a member of the Curriculum Committee of the 20th Anniversary Study, he contributed significantly to the concept of the expanded core curriculum and the overall reshaping of the total Academy program. In 1978 he led the successful effort to achieve maximum accreditation of the Academy’s six engineering programs. In 1979 he was appointed Head of the Department of Civil Engineering and the Air Force Academy’s Faculty Representative to the NCAA. An active participant in the American Society of Civil Engineers, he has been honored with the rank of Fellow. Em was promoted to brigadier general and retired from the USAF in 1981.
After retiring, Em Fluhr worked five years as Director of Operations of an international joint venture that developed the curriculum, trained Saudi instructors and administrators, and operated a more-than-1,000 student educational/training institution in Saudi Arabia. He then spent three years as a partner in a joint venture of American firms to restructure and improve operation of the electrical distribution system in Pakistan. Returning to the US, he spent the next five years designing and building homes in Arizona that had the flexibility to satisfy the needs of a family from newly married to retirement. Next, he became Vice President of Risk Control for Home Buyers Warranty Corporation in Denver, CO, turning the bankrupt insurance company into a healthy, prosperous corporation. After four years, he was promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the corporation. Over the next 16 years, he grew the company to become the largest structural warranty company in the US. Em retired again in 2012.