Malham Wakin

Malham Wakin
Born	(1931-03-31)March 31, 1931 Oneonta, New York, U.S.
Died	July 30, 2024(2024-07-30) (aged 93)
Occupation(s)	United States Air Force officer, Philosophy professor
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Southern California

Malham M. Wakin (March 31, 1931 – July 30, 2024) was a United States Air Force brigadier general, and head of the philosophy department at the U.S. Air Force Academy.[1]

Early life and education

Wakin was raised in Oneonta, New York. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1952, earned an M.A. from the State University of New York,[2] and earned a PhD at the University of Southern California in 1959.[3]

Military and teaching career

Wakin joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953, and spent 42 years on active duty. The great majority of those years were spent teaching at the Air Force Academy, beginning in 1959.[1][4] He retired from active duty in 1995, but continued to teach at the academy until retiring from teaching in 2016.[4]

One theme of Wakin's teaching career was challenging the assertion made by H. G. Wells in The Outline of History: "The professional military mind is by necessity an inferior and unimaginative mind; no man of high intellectual quality would willingly imprison his gifts in such a calling.".[5]

Death

Wakin died on July 30, 2024, at the age of 93.[6]

Works

Title	Year	Publisher	ISBN	Subject matter	Comments
The Viet Cong Infrastructure: Modus Operandi of Selected Political Cadres[7]	1968	N/A	N/A	Viet Cong and PAVN strategy, organization and structure	Handbook written for the Department of Defense.
War, Morality, and the Military Profession	1979	Westview Press	ISBN 9780891586708	Military ethics	Cited as recommended reading by Marine General and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis.[8]
The Teaching of Ethics in the Military	1982	Institute of Society, Ethics, and the Life Sciences, The Hastings Center	ISBN 9780916558161	Military ethics	Written with Peter L. Stromberg and Daniel Callahan.
Integrity First: Reflections of a Military Philosopher	2000	Rowman & Littlefield	ISBN 9780739101704	Military ethics

References

1. Simon, Steven (September 21, 2007). "Academy Recognizes Retired General" (PDF). Academy Spirit. U.S. Air Force Academy. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
2. Briand, Jr., Paul L.; Wakin, Malham M. (July 1963). "The Vocation of Arms". Air Force Magazine. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 13, 2019.
3. "A Gallery of Great Professors Agree That An Interested Student Is What Their Job Is About". People. October 13, 1975. Retrieved May 10, 2019.
4. Bowden, Ray (April 27, 2016). "1 event, 2 celebrations: Polaris Hall opens, Academy educator Wakin retires". United States Air Force Academy. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
5. Wakin, Malham (2000). Integrity First: Reflections of a Military Philosopher. Lexington Books. p. 3. ISBN 0739101706. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
6. "Malham Wakin Obituary". The Gazette. August 4, 2024. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
7. "The Viet Cong Infrastructure Modus Operandi of Selected Political Cadres (Item Number: 2310302015)". Texas Tech University Vietnam Center and Archive. 20 January 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
8. Ricks, Thomas E. (March 28, 2017). "Book excerpt: Defense Secretary Mattis discusses his favorite books, and why". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on August 22, 2024. Retrieved May 11, 2019. At the same time, you've got to study ethics and not confront your ethical dilemmas for the first time on the battlefield, so you read Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars or Malham Wakin's War, Morality, and the Military Profession.

External links

• Malham M. Wakin in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Presentation by Wakin at the 2016 National Character and Leadership Symposium at the United States Air Force Academy