{{Short description|American academic and aviation historian}} '''William Matthew "Bill" Leary, Jr.''' (May 6, 1934 — February 24, 2006)<ref name="ssdi">''Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014''. [[Social Security Administration]].</ref> was an American academic and aviation historian.<ref name="Allen">{{cite web |url=http://libtreasures.utdallas.edu/xmlui/handle/10735.1/1919 |title=William M. Leary Papers |last1=Allen |first1=Thomas J. |date= |department=Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection |website=libtreasures.utdallas.edu |publisher=The University of Texas at Dallas |access-date=November 23, 2015}}</ref> For 32 years, Leary taught at the [[University of Georgia]] from which he retired as the ''[[E. Merton Coulter]] Professor of History'' in 2005.<ref name="Allen"/>
Leary was born in [[Newark, New Jersey]] in 1934.<ref name="Allen"/> He joined the [[United States Air Force]] and was stationed at [[Kadena Air Base]] in [[Japan]] during the [[Korean War]] where his responsibilities included filing [[flight plan]]s, logging arrivals and departures, and arranging parking and service for aircraft.<ref name="Allen"/> Leary stated that his observation of [[Civil Air Transport]] aircraft and personnel at Kadena led to a historical interest in aviation.<ref name="Allen"/>
After the war, Leary earned a [[doctorate]] in [[American history]] from [[Princeton University]].<ref name="Allen"/> He taught at Princeton, [[San Diego State University]], [[University of Victoria]], and finally the University of Georgia. Leary earned four [[Fulbright Program|Fulbright grants]] and in 1995 earned the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]'s ''[[Studies in Intelligence]] Award''.<ref name="Allen"/> From 1996 to 1997, Leary held the ''[[Charles A. Lindbergh]] Chair in Aerospace History'' at the [[National Air and Space Museum]].<ref name="Allen"/>
During his career, Leary authored books on various books on the history of aviation, including different airlines and the commercial airline industry.<ref name="Allen"/> He documented the history of the [[China National Aviation Corporation]], Civil Air Transport, and [[Air America (airline)|Air America]], and their links to the [[United States Intelligence Community]], in a trilogy of books: ''The Dragon's Wings: the Story of the China National Aviation Corporation'', ''Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia, a history of Civil Air Transport'', and a third unfinished, unpublished book about Air America.<ref name="Allen"/> Other books written by Leary discussed [[Mohawk Airlines]], [[Project COLDFEET]], and [[Allen Dulles]].<ref name="Allen"/> Other subjects covered in his writings included the [[Airmails of the United States]], [[Bernt Balchen]] and [[polar aviation]], the USAF's [[Combat Cargo Command]], and the aerial resupply of [[Yugoslav Partisans]] during [[World War II]].<ref name="Oelkrug">{{cite web |url=https://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/cataam/cataapdf/WilliamLearyPapers.html |title=Guide to the William M. Leary Papers, 1935-2006 |last1=Oelkrug |first1=Paul A. |date=July 1, 2006 |department=Special Collections Department, History of Aviation Collection |website=www.utdallas.edu |publisher=The University of Texas at Dallas |access-date=November 23, 2015 |archive-date=November 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125022845/https://www.utdallas.edu/library/specialcollections/hac/cataam/cataapdf/WilliamLearyPapers.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
On February 24, 2006, Leary died in [[Watkinsville, Georgia]].<ref name="Allen"/>
==Selected works== *Leary, William M. ''We Shall Return! MacArthur's Commanders and the Defeat of Japan, 1942–1945''. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1988. {{ISBN|0813116546}} *Leary, William M., and Leonard A. LeSchack. ''Project COLDFEET: Secret Mission to a Soviet Ice Station''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1996. {{ISBN|1557505144}} *Leary, William M. ''Anything, Anywhere, Any Time: Combat Cargo in the Korean War''. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program, 2000. {{ISBN|0160503736}} *Leary, William M. ''Perilous Missions: Civil Air Transport and the CIA Covert Operations in Asia''. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002. {{ISBN|1588340287}}
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Leary, William M.}} [[Category:1934 births]] [[Category:2006 deaths]] [[Category:Writers from Newark, New Jersey]] [[Category:Princeton University alumni]] [[Category:Princeton University faculty]] [[Category:San Diego State University faculty]] [[Category:Academic staff of the University of Victoria]] [[Category:University of Georgia faculty]] [[Category:United States Air Force airmen]] [[Category:United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War]] [[Category:American military historians]] [[Category:Historians from New Jersey]] [[Category:Military personnel from Newark, New Jersey]]