EUGENE–Retired Gen. Merrill A. "Tony" McPeak, former chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, will talk with a University of Oregon Freshman Seminar class on Tuesday, March 2, in Room 128 of the Chiles Business Center, 925 E. 13th Ave.

McPeak, who retired in 1994, was chief of the Air Force during Desert Storm. A career fighter pilot, he is credited with reorganizing and modernizing the Air Force. A Vietnam veteran of 269 combat missions, the four-star general also once flew with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force’s elite aerobatic team.

The Freshman Seminar, "Come Fly With Me: Exploring the Heritage of Flight," is taught by Bill Lamon, UO associate professor emeritus. Freshman Seminars–small-class sessions taught by veteran faculty–provide first-year students with opportunities for in-depth studies on a variety of topics. Freshmen may choose from among nearly 200 seminar offerings each year.

Lamon, who has a lifelong love of flying, joined the Belgian Air Force in 1957 as a reserve officer cadet and received university and flight training in Canada as the recipient of both a NATO and two Belgian Aeronautical/Air Force Association grants.

In 1967, he left the Belgian Air Force Reserve and completed his doctoral studies in mathematics education at the University of California, Berkeley. He taught first at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before joining the UO education faculty in 1972. He became special assistant to the vice provost for academic affairs in 1992 and retired in 1998.

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