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Brigadier General
William A. Orth
Permanent Professor 1974–1983
Dean of the Faculty 1978–1983
B.S., United States Militarpy Academy
M.S., Purdue University
Ph.D., Brown University
Bill Orth, the Academy’s 29th Permanent Professor, was born in 1931 in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. He was commissioned in the United States Air Force after graduation from the United States Military Academy in 1954. He then attended undergraduate pilot training at Bartow AFB, FL, and Laredo AFB, TX. In 1955 he graduated from combat crew training at Perrin AFB, TX, as an F-86D fighter pilot. He flew with the 324th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Westover AFB, MA, until 1957, when he was assigned to the 512th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Royal Air Force Station, Bentwaters, England, where he had the additional duty as Squadron Intelligence Officer. The 512th FIS moved to Sembach Air Base, Germany, in 1958. In 1959 he was transferred to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where he served as an Intelligence Officer in the Intelligence Training Branch, HQ US Air Forces Europe, for five months. He entered graduate school in 1960 and earned his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, Lafayette, IN, in 1961. Bill was then assigned to the Air Force Academy’s Department of Mechanics as an Instructor. In 1963 he returned to flying as a T-33 and T-37 Instructor Pilot with the 3575th Pilot Training Wing at Vance AFB, OK, and in 1964 became Chief of Wing Safety. In 1965 he left Vance to study for his PhD in Applied Mathematics at Brown University, Providence, RI. In 1968 Bill was again assigned to the Academy, this time as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics. He completed his doctoral dissertation while at the Academy and his PhD degree was awarded in 1970. In that year he again returned to flying, first as an A-37 pilot at England AFB, LA, then as Chief of Wing Safety for the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing, and, later in 1970, as Commander of the 8th Special Operations Squadron (Fighter) at Bien Hoa Air Base, Vietnam. Bill flew 258 combat sorties in the A-37. Following his Vietnam tour, in 1971 he became Assistant Director of Accounting and Finance for the Deputy Chief of Staff, Comptroller, HQ Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, NE. Then Bill was assigned in 1972 as Director of Engineering and Construction under the Deputy Chief of Staff, Civil Engineering, HQ SAC. He was a registered Professional Engineer in Nebraska. He became Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Engineering, HQ SAC, in 1973. In 1974 Bill returned to the Academy when he was appointed Permanent Professor and Head, Department of Physics. Bill was promoted to brigadier general and appointed the Dean of the Faculty in 1978 and served as the Academy’s third Permanent Dean until he retired in 1983. During his tenure as Dean, the Academy adopted the Academic Honors Program, discontinued “majors for all” and instituted the Basic Academic Program, and initiated the Microcomputers in the Dormitories project.
After retiring from the Air Force, Bill Orth served as President of Trident Technical College, Charleston, SC, from 1983 to 1985. He then served as President of the National Education Center, Spartan School of Aeronautics, Tulsa, OK, from 1985 to 1987. From 1987 to 1993, he was President of Atlantic Community College, Mays Landing, NJ.