Dr. Galfo distinguished himself both in academia and in the United States military, becoming the first Heritage Professor of Education at the College of William & Mary, where he taught for 31 years, and a Colonel in the United States Air Force.
In May 1943, Dr. Galfo was drafted into the US Army from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he was studying chemical engineering. His first assignment was with an anti-aircraft artillery unit in Texas as a communications operator, but before completing his training with the unit, he took and passed an exam that allowed him to transfer to the Army Air Corps. He then attended schools to become an aerial radio operator-gunner, and upon completion of that training, he was assigned to a B-17 crew which was sent to England to join the 401st Bombardment Group (Heavy) stationed in Deenethorp, in the British Midlands. Dr. Galfo and the crew completed 22 missions, including one mission that was part of the greatest bombardment of Berlin in WWII. The 401st lost several planes on that mission to heavy flak and an attack by German jets (ME 262s). After VE Day, Dr. Galfo and three other members of his crew volunteered to fly back to the US to retrain Army Air Corps personnel to positions on a B-29 Super Fortress.
He was awarded the Air Medal on March 22, 1945, “For meritorious achievement while participating in sustained bomber combat operations over Germany and German-occupied countries.”
When the war ended, then-Technical Sergeant Galfo took advantage of the GI Bill to pursue three university degrees. He earned a BA in Chemistry and Mathematics, a Master of Education degree in Science Teaching, and an Ed.D in School Administration all from the University of Buffalo, where he met his wife, Mary Faust. They were married on August 19, 1950.
He continued his military career as a reserve officer beginning with a direct commission in the United States Air Force in 1951. When he was appointed professor, with a specialty in the teaching of applied statistics at The College of William & Mary in 1958, he also began his service to the largest education entity in the world—the Branches of the US Military, conducting research for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. He was cited as the “Outstanding Reservist of the Tactical Air Command.” At his retirement ceremony from the military in 1981, he was honored for his meritorious service to the United States.
Dr. Galfo once remarked, “People sometimes forget that education is one of the major jobs of the armed forces.” He was keenly aware of the synergistic relationships between the military and civilian education programs, and throughout his life, he moved easily between the two worlds.
His final eight years in the reserves were spent at the Pentagon and the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. After his retirement from the Air Force Reserves and William & Mary, Dr. Galfo continued studying the 40-year stand-off between NATO and the Warsaw Pact nations. It was funded in part, by a grant from the Fulbright Education Research Studies. In 1985, Dr. Galfo traveled to Great Britain to meet with students. His focus was learning what they knew about the Cold War, and what they had heard from other sources—finding a wide disparity between the two.
He continued the study in 1986 in the Commonwealth of Virginia; in 1987, he traveled to Germany; and, in 1991, in addition to the Fulbright grant, he also received a grant from the then-government of West Germany where he concluded the project. Dr. Galfo’s post-retirement research was also partly funded by a grant from the Reagan administration’s Institute of Peace, and his findings were widely publicized in research journals in the United States, Britain, and Germany.
During his time at the College of William & Mary, Dr. Galfo and his colleagues helped develop and shape the School of Education as it expanded from a small department in the 1950s to a separate school. At that time, William & Mary included other colleges located from Norfolk to north of Richmond, including what are now Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth Universities. Dr. Galfo was asked to be the education assistant dean and to teach the school’s research course for several years, which allowed him to reshape the way the use of statistics in research should be taught by publishing his own research and statistics textbook. The book and two more editions were used by several colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
The College of William & Mary School of Education was ranked 39th in the US News and World Report’s 2010 survey of the nation’s top graduate and professional schools. The facility, which was dedicated in 2010, brings all the School’s academic programs, outreach centers and research projects together in a professional setting designed to stimulate collaboration and innovation. The building includes a Professional Development Center and 13 classrooms, and serves as an incubator for teaching excellence, preparing educators to address the complex needs of education today in ways that are responsive to the demands of their field in the 21st Century. This was the culmination of Dr. Galfo’s life’s work – to see the School of Education become a reality.
One of his favorite accomplishments was in the selection of education “Laureates” for the William & Mary Chapter of the National Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society in Education. As chairman of the local Chapter, he asked outstanding national individuals to be inducted into the WM Chapter. These honorees came to the college to accept and be recognized as Laureates. They included Edward R. Murrow, Governor Terry Sanford of North Carolina, and Virginia Senator Bill Spong.
He and his wife, Mary, formed life-long friendships with notables such as Queen Noor of Jordan, United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and Virginia Senator Mark Warner.
In 1985, the Galfos established the Armand J. and Mary Faust Galfo Education Research Fellowship Endowment and the Mary Faust Galfo Science Teaching Scholarship.
Dr. Galfo was predeceased by his wife of 67 years, Mary Faust Galfo, and by his parents and brother, Guy Galfo. He is survived by his sons, Christopher (Tina) Galfo of Auberry, California, and Gregory (Virginia) Galfo of Williamsburg, Virginia, with whom he resided; granddaughters Jessica Grove, and Sarah (Kurtis) Strand, and by three great-grandchildren, Kaitlin Ogden, Aiden Grove, and Emelia Strand. Also surviving Dr. Galfo are his sister- and brother-in-law, Elaine and James McGrath of Enterprise, Florida, sister-in-law, Joan Galfo of Orlando, Florida, and a host of nieces and one nephew.
Visitation will be held from 2:00 - 4:00 pm and 6:00 – 8:00 pm on Sunday, February 18, 2018 at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Road, Williamsburg, Virginia. Interment will be held at a later date.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18