As an undergraduate at Virginia Tech – then known as Virginia Polytechnic Institute – Walter Duncan lettered in wrestling and was an active member of the Corps of Cadets, the Apple Club and the Monogram Club. He graduated in 1951 with a B.S. in civil engineering and a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. Shortly after graduation he was called to active duty in the Korean War as a construction platoon leader in the 469th Engineer Aviation Battalion, where he served for two years. Walter then remained in the Army Reserves, working his way up to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring in 1978.



After finishing his service in Korea, Mr. Duncan joined the Bureau of Reclamation, Yellowstone District, in Billings, Montana, as a hydraulic engineer assigned to design irrigation canal systems. A year later he joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, as a hydrologist on the design of the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control projects. He worked on the Florida projects for two years.



From 1956 to 1961, Mr. Duncan worked for the Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, as a hydrology unit leader. His primary responsibility was water resource planning in the Snake River Basin. During this time he became familiar with the IBM 650 Computer while preparing flood frequency programs and writing them in computer language. The IBM 650 is now on exhibit in the Smithsonian Institution.



Walter transferred to the Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, in 1961 as chief hydrologist responsible for setting up programs with other federal, state, and local agencies for hydrologic and meteorological data collection. In 1970, he was transferred to the Office of Chief of Engineers at Corps of Engineers Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he later became the assistant chief hydrologist with responsibilities for interagency coordination.



During this time Mr. Duncan served as secretary for the Columbia River Treaty Permanent Engineering  Board. The board was comprised of ten Canadian and U.S. engineers who determined the flood control and electric power benefits attributable to water storage projects in the Columbia River Basin, both in the U.S. and Canada.



Throughout his long career with the Corps of Engineers, Mr. Duncan participated in a number of professional activities. He served on a panel to select Russian research papers to be printed in the American Geophysical Union publication Soviet Hydrology, and he was the Corps of Engineers representative on the U.S. National Committee of Scientific Hydrology. He also was part of a six-person American team attending the IV and V meetings of the International Commission of Hydrology of the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization.



In anticipation of his retirement from the Corps of Engineers, and to prepare for his second career in elementary education, Mr. Duncan returned to college as a graduate student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1978 he received his master’s degree in elementary education – 27 years after completing his bachelor ’s degree at Virginia Tech.



Walter then moved to Alaska, where he was very active in the Presbyterian Church. As chairman of the Christian Education Committee of Presbytery, his responsibilities included supervising summer camp, training school church leaders and helping to introduce the new curriculum to incoming teachers. He also served as secretary and treasurer for the Alaska Council of Churches and taught for six years at the Bureau of Indian Affairs school, where he coordinated and chaperoned three separate trips of 7th and 8th grade students on 10-day trips to Washington, D.C. He also coached wrestling at the school.



Walter left Alaska in 1987 and returned to Virginia, where he worked for the Fairfax County Public School System, teaching learning-disabled students to use computers.



Walter and his wife, Maryruth, now live in Boulder, Colorado, near their daughter and two grandchildren. Walter works part-time as a computer technician for Columbine Elementary School in Boulder.



An active supporter of Virginia Tech, Walter has established three scholarships at the university – one in the Via Department, another in wrestling and a third in athletics. He also is a member of the Ut Prosim Society and the Legacy Society and is a Hokie Benefactor.