William W. Spruance Brigadier General
United States Air Force (retired)
Chairman Emeritus

William W. Spruance

William W. Spruance

Brigadier General William W. Spruance was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in January, 1972. He was elected Chairman Emeritus in April, 1987. General Spruance currently serves Embry-Riddle as a member of the Center for Aerospace Education Advisory Committee (CASE).

He was commissioned in the U.S. Army Field Artillery on his graduation from Princeton University in 1939, and entered active duty a year later. Pioneering the use of light planes, he piloted his own aircraft with General Patton's Second Armored Division. He completed military flight training in 1943, and transferred to the Air Corps, later serving in the China-Burma India theater flying the "Hump." He was released from active duty in 1946.

He was an original member of the Delaware Air National Guard, organized in September, 1946, and served in various positions until he was named Assistant Adjutant General for Air, with the rank of Brigadier General, in 1956. He retired from that post in 1976.

Additionally, General Spruance has been executive director of the New Castle County Commission, chief clerk of the Delaware Legislature and chairman of the Delaware Aeronautics Commission.

He has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal; the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster; the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters; the Conspicuous Service Cross of Delaware; and a Command Pilot rating, with more than 4,500 hours.

Since a near-fatal crash in 1961, resulting in extensive burns, he has given more than 1,400 lectures on crash survival and flight safety to more than 140,000 people, and has made several training films. He has received many testimonials from those who credit him with saving their lives.

General Spruance is a current member of the Insurance Trust and Historical Society boards of the National Guard Association. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Aerospace Education Foundation, and a permanent member of the board of the Air Force Association. He is a life member of the SAFE Association, the American Defense Preparedness Association, the Air Force Historical Society, and the Order of Quiet Birdmen.

He has two sons, Thomas and William (ERAU '69). General Spruance's wife is the former Eunice S. Bennett.

External Link:
The views expressed on faculty and external Web pages are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Visit General Spurance's personal Web site:
The address is: www.angtec.ang.af.mil/spruance

Faculty and Student Delegates

  • Javad Gorjidooz

    Faculty Delegate,
    Prescott Campus

  • Bob Oxley, Ph.D.

    Faculty Delegate,
    Daytona Beach Campus

  • Kees Rietsema, Ph.D.

    Faculty Delegate,
    Worldwide Campus

  • Bryan Dietz

    Student Delegate,
    Daytona Beach Campus

  • Clancy Delforge

    Student Delegate,
    Prescott Campus