Edward Claiborn, professor emeritus of economics at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), died peacefully Jan. 15, 2019, at age 85.
After graduating from the University of Idaho, Claiborn joined the Air Force, where he served for 26 years and rose to the rank of colonel. While in the Air Force, he earned a master’s degree in 1961 and a Ph.D. in 1964 in economics from Princeton.
In the Air Force he was a forward air controller in Vietnam, a flight instructor, a professor of economics at the Air Force Academy, and the head of the ROTC detachment at the University of California, Berkeley.
After the Air Force Claiborn joined VMI as a professor of economics, retiring as a professor emeritus in the Department of Economics and Business.
A quietly spiritual person, Claiborn was an active elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Va. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club, and the Sons of the American Revolution.
He is survived by his wife, Shirley; two daughters; and two grandchildren.
Graduate alumni memorials are prepared by the APGA.