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).

Brigadier General William W. Spruance 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.

General Spruance 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.

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 also served as executive director of the New Castle County Commission, chief clerk of the Delaware Legislature and chairman of the Delaware Aeronautics Commission.

General Spruance 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.

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.

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

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