Distinguished Engineer
Hometown: Lemmon
Civil Engineering,
Ernest L. Buckley earned his M.S. from Kansas State in 1949 and a Ph.D. from Texas in 1972. Buckley taught at Kansas State University, worked in Montana and served in the U.S. Air Force in Texas, Maine and Morocco from 1949 to 1956 prior to joining the staff at Texas Christian University. During that time, he also served in various engineering capacities of General Dynamics Corp. in Fort Worth, Texas. He served as professor of architecture and director of the Housing Research and Design Center at the University of Texas at Arlington. Buckley was dean of Engineering at South Dakota State University from 1983 to 1989 and was special advisor to Gov. George Mickelson. In addition, he served as executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents. He served as a consultant for 11 firms throughout the Midwest and had 21 articles published in engineering journals. Buckley was a member of a number of professional and honorary organizations, including ADCE, in which he was a fellow. During his career, he was involved with the Lunar Exploration Systems after Apollo and was the proposal manager for the B-I bomber for General Dynamics. He was also involved in facility support for the F-111 and B-58 programs. His wife Betty Diltz Buckley attended SDSC as well.