William Acker
1924 - 2006
Former Air Force lieutenant colonel and Arizona State University geography professor William James “Jim” Acker died September 12, 2006 at age eighty-two.
Acker was born and raised in Kansas and during World War II flew B-17s and B-24s out of the Panama Canal Zone. After the war he completed an engineering degree at Purdue University. Recalled to active duty at the start of the Korean War, he spent four years as an Air Force ROTC instructor at the University of Kansas.
Acker completed master’s and doctoral degrees in geography at Syracuse University in 1957 and 1969 respectively, and was on the staff at the Air Force Academy when it was established in 1957. After retiring from the academy in 1970 he joined the Geography Department at Arizona State University (ASU). He retired from ASU in 1989, but remained active in departmental affairs until his passing.
William “Jim” Acker (Necrology). 2007. AAG Newsletter 42(1): 26.