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Brigadier General
Richard L. Fullerton
Permanent Professor 2002–2014
Vice Dean of the Faculty 2010–2012
B.S., United States Air Force Academy
M.S., University of Texas at Austin
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
Rich Fullerton, the Academy’s 71st Permanent Professor, was born in 1961 in Moab, Utah, and raised in Norman, Oklahoma. He graduated first in his United States Air Force Academy Class of 1983 with majors in Economics and Operations Research. He went on to Sheppard AFB, TX, for Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, then stayed there as a T-38 Instructor Pilot, 1984–1989. After transitioning to the F-15 at Luke AFB, AZ, Rich moved to the 525th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, 1989–1992, and flew combat missions in Operations DESERT STORM and PROVIDE COMFORT. He was then selected for Academy faculty duty and sent to graduate school at UT–Austin, where in three years he completed both his Master’s degree (1994) and PhD (1995) in Economics. He then joined the Academy’s Department of Economics and Geography as an Assistant Professor of Economics. After two years he was tapped for assignment in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, the Pentagon, Washington, DC, where he made substantial contributions toward the development and acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Air Force. From 1999 to 2000 he was a National Defense Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Studies, Ohio State University, Columbus, following which he was the Executive Officer to the Deputy Chief of Staff, US Forces Korea, in Seoul. Rich returned to the Academy in 2001 as Head of the Department of Economics and Geography, where he finished out the last 13 years of his distinguished 31-year career. He was appointed Permanent Professor in 2002. During his tenure, he oversaw the major in Economics and the interdisciplinary majors in Meteorology and Operations Research. He modernized the geography curriculum, transforming the Geography major into Geospatial Sciences, and renaming the department to Economics and Geosciences. Rich was a prolific writer, with many published articles in top economics journals. He developed a deep interest in improving use of data for realistic assessment of college achievement and published in this area as well. He led the Academy’s massive self-study in preparation for its academic reaccreditation in 2010. Moreover, he was the Vice Dean and also served the Academy as its Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA. Rich was promoted to brigadier general and retired in 2014.
Following retirement, Rich taught at Colorado College, and avidly pursued his love of all things outdoors, especially traveling with his family and climbing mountains. He died suddenly in 2016 and is buried in the Air Force Academy Cemetery.