William Ashley Chapman (1919-2010) was a ROTC graduate from Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama, a WWII veteran, and a retired colonel from the USAF Reserves. Formerly from Homewood, Alabama, Chapman came to API to study engineering and graduated in 1941 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Also while he was at API, in March 1941, he earned his pilots license and after graduation was commisioned as an officer in the reserves. His unit was called up in the summer of 1941, before the United States entered WWII on December 7, therefore Chapman served for the entire war. He was sent in Febraury 1942 to Ascension Island in the south Atlantic with the 38th Engineer Battallion to build runways. He along with the 38th Engineer Battalion combat engineers built the Wideawake Field, which served 25,000 Allied planes and is still in use today. After Ascension, Chapman was sent to the Pacific theater and was stationed with the 1902 Engineer Aviation Battalion on the island of Ie Shima. There he and his battallion built and maintained runways during the Battle of Okinawa. In 1944, Chapman married Faye Ellyn Latta and they settled in Los Altos, California after the war and raised their daughters and where Chapman continued in the Army Reserves. Post-war Chapman earned more awards, citations, and degrees while in the Reserves and retired as a full colonel. In addition to his reserves career, Chapman also worked for the City of Palo Alto, where he served for two decades as a civil engineer. His renewed interest in flying led him to re-qualify for his pilots license after a gap of 37 years and was a private pilot flying small aircraft. Chapman also served on multiple civic, church, and community boards and as a volunteer, he helped write an emergency plan for the city of Los Altos, California after the earthquake struck there in 1989.