John Schlight, a retired Air Force colonel and professor of history, died peacefully Sept. 4, 2017, at age 90.

Schlight graduated from high school and then joined an order of Benedictine monks. After graduating from one of their colleges, he earned a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University in 1949. In 1952 he left the Benedictines and joined the Air Force. He was a navigator during the Korean War and then was a professor for one of the first classes to attend the new Air Force Academy in Colorado.

In 1961, he left Colorado to attend Princeton, and earned a Ph.D. in history in 1965. Schlight then returned to the Air Force Academy as a professor of history and remained there until 1973, when he moved to Washington and the faculty of the National War College. He also was a professor of history at George Washington University.

Schlight wrote many articles and book chapters on military history. He authored five scholarly books, including one on Henry II. He retired from the Air Force with the rank of colonel in 1989.

He was predeceased by Ellen, his wife of 61 years, and their youngest daughter. He is survived by three children, seven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.

Graduate Class of 1965