Through six decades, BG Mal Wakin blazed trails at Academy

(USAFA) Colleagues and former cadets remember retired Brig. Gen. Malham M. Wakin as the service academy’s educational trailblazer.

Long honored as an Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, he taught philosophy and ethics, served as Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Chairman of the Humanities Division, Assistant Dean, Associate Dean, chair, and member of numerous committees.

Wakin died July 30 at the age of 93. The longtime U.S. Air Force Academy educator took pride in calling himself “an old-fashioned schoolteacher.” The many cadets and faculty he mentored had significantly higher praise.

What an ethically lived life requires

Multiple generations of cadets and permanent-party officers remember how Wakin would knock a soft golf ball with a sand wedge over the audience members’ heads. He used the practice to emphasize Aristotle’s point that ethical behavior requires both knowledge and practice, said retired Brig. Gen. James Cook. Cook became Wakin’s executive officer in 1992 and later became the Philosophy department head.

“I watched him up close and came to appreciate how hard he worked to grab the attention of his audiences at the beginning of every lecture,” Cook said. “He lived according to the dictim, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living.’ He not only practiced lifelong self-examination, but he helped others to live lives worth living.”

Retired Brig. Gen. Malham M. Wakin’s teaching career at the U.S. Air Force Academy spanned 57 years, beginning in 1959. The former Department of Philosophy head died July 30, 2024, at 93. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Wakin’s path to an Academy career

In 1952, Wakin received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Notre Dame. A year later, he began navigator training and was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 1954.

He began teaching at the Academy in 1959 and was named the Department of Philosophy’s first permanent professor in 1964. For the next 30 years, Wakin guided the development of the Academy curriculum.

Wakin authored or edited five books, including “War, Morality and the Military Profession” in 1979 and “The Teaching of Ethics in the Military” in 1982. In 1975, People Magazine named him one of the “12 Great Professors of America.”

He helped found and chaired the Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics in 1979 and served as the U.S. Olympic Committee’s ethics advisor for 13 years. Wakin retired from active duty in 1995 but remained a Professor Emeritus at the Academy until 2016.

Impact on Academy’s senior leaders

Through the years, Wakin taught many cadets who later went on to become Academy leaders during their careers. Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Linnell Letendre was one of them. She recalls him as the professor who always asked tough questions of his cadets to create the critical thinkers the Academy and the Air Force needed. Letendre also praised him for his commitment to integrity.

“His profound influence extended beyond the classroom as he shaped the minds and characters of countless cadets, including me,” she said. “Known for his deep commitment to ethics and military professionalism, he was a prolific author and a respected voice in these fields. His teachings and writings have left a lasting impact on the Academy’s culture, emphasizing the importance of moral integrity and ethical leadership. He believed that integrity is the foundation upon which all other virtues stand, especially in the context of military service. For today’s cadets, that teaching remains critically important. In a world where ethical dilemmas are increasingly complex, Wakin’s teachings provide a moral compass, guiding cadets to act honorably and responsibly.”

Retired Brig. Gen. Malham M. Wakin’s teaching career at the U.S. Air Force Academy spanned 57 years, beginning in 1959. Wakin died July 30, 2024, at the age of 93. Annually, the Center for Character and Leadership Development presents the Brig. Gen. Malham M. Wakin Character and Leadership Development Award. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The Brig. Gen. Malam M. Wakin Award for Character and Leadership Development

Every year, the Center for Character and Leadership Development presents the Brig. Gen. Malham M. Wakin Award for Character and Leadership Development. The award recognizes current or former Academy faculty, staff members and teams who foster standards consistent with the Leader of Character Framework.

Wakin considered integrity the most important trait a cadet and military leader should cultivate, he said at the opening of Polaris Hall April 27, 2016.

“What if you, as a leader, do not have integrity?” Wakin asked. “No one will trust you. Do you think that, without integrity, that leader will get loyalty and trust from his troops?”

A lasting legacy

Wakin’s legacy in the Department of Philosophy lives on today. The department’s library not only includes copies of his books but was also dedicated to him.

Like many of the Academy’s senior leaders through the decades, his legacy also lives on in the faculty members who took his classes or worked under his leadership.

Assistant professor Lt. Col. William Uhl began his first assignment in the department 10 years after Wakin’s retirement in 1995 but heard him deliver a speech on medical ethics.

“The Department of Philosophy not only exists but thrives because of General Wakin,” Uhl said. “Though no current department members served with him, most of us can attest to experiencing firsthand his love for philosophy, an unwavering moral conviction, gentle wit, personal warmth and humility. His goal was always to help develop Air Force leaders with solid moral character and an ability to think critically.”