NBAA’s Bolen Issues Call for Industry to Utilize Annual Convention as a Platform for Grassroots Advocacy

Contact: Dan Hubbard at (202) 783-9360 or dhubbard@nbaa.org

ORLANDO, FL, November 9, 2005 – The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) today announced the 2005 winners of five scholarships that promote the pursuit learning about the aviation and aerospace industry.

“NBAA has a long-standing tradition of promoting opportunities for worthy individuals to acquire knowledge and skills about business aviation through academia and the workplace,” NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen said. “These scholarships reflect the Association’s continuing support for professional-development opportunities, and NBAA is pleased to recognize the highly qualified scholarship recipients at our Annual Meeting & Convention.”

The scholarships awarded are:

• Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship
• NORDAM Dee Howard/Etienne Fage Scholarship
• United States Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG)/Professional Development Program (PDP) Scholarship
• William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship
• AvFuel Michigan Business Aviation Scholarship

Information about the scholarships and recipients is as follows:

The Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship

NBAA has selected five students enrolled at NBAA/UAA-member institutions to receive the Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship. The recipients, who will each receive $5,000, are:

• Miles D. Bardell, a junior at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, who is a double major in aviation technologies and aviation management. Miles has worked as an intern on Canadair Challenger 601 and 604 aircraft as well as Falcon 50 aircraft.
• Jennifer Lauren Byrne, a sophomore at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, who is a major in aviation flight. Earlier this year, she earned the rating of top female pilot in the United States from the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. Jennifer is active in Women in Aviation and has her private pilot certificate, single engine land.
• Shaun Matthew Gerber, a senior at Purdue University, who is a major in professional flight technology and has been selected as a copilot for the Purdue Beechjet during this fall semester. He is a member of the Purdue Flight Team in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association Competition and is a commercial pilot with instrument and multi-engine ratings, flight instructor ratings, and a total of over 600 hours of flight time.
• Anna Margret Romer, a senior at the Minneapolis Community and Technical College Aviation Center, who is a second-year airframe and power plant student in the aircraft technician training program and also is a student pilot and line service worker at Thunderbird Aviation.
• Andrew Ryan Tavelli, a senior at Western Michigan University, who is a major in aviation flight science and aviation administration. A commercial pilot, who has a multi and single engine rating with an instrument rating, he also is a certified flight instructor. As the president of Alpha Eta Rho, he has logged time in a sailplane and loves to fly remote control airplanes.

The Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship was created in 2001 by NBAA and the family and friends of the late Lawrence Ginocchio to honor his outstanding personal contribution to the business aviation community. Named for a remarkable man whose strength of character inspired a high standard of caring in the aviation community, the Lawrence Ginocchio Aviation Scholarship recognizes those individuals who have demonstrated honesty, integrity and selflessness in their dealings with others. These individuals should possess a passion for aviation, as Larry Ginocchio did, and have utilized their interest or involvement in business aviation to enhance the lives of others.

The NORDAM Dee Howard/Etienne Fage Scholarship

NBAA has selected Timothy John Unton, a sophomore majoring in aerospace engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, for this year’s $2,500 NORDAM Dee Howard/Etienne Fage Scholarship. Selected in fall 2004 for the Embry-Riddle’s Honors Program, Unton is president of the campus’s Society of Aerospace Engineers Chapter. Timothy has worked at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH, and would someday like to open his own business designing and manufacturing gyroplanes.

The NORDAM Dee Howard/Etienne Fage Scholarship was created by the NORDAM Group to honor the lifetime achievements of two aerospace engineering pioneers, Dee Howard and Etienne Fage. The scholarship seeks to encourage undergraduates to pursue an education in the fields of aerospace engineering and aeronautical systems maintenance engineering who are enrolled at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

The United States Aircraft Insurance Group (USAIG)/Professional Development Program Scholarship

NBAA has selected Keenan Richards Kent of Western Michigan University to receive the $1,000 USAIG/PDP Scholarship. A senior majoring in aviation flight science, Richards has worked at Pfizer, Inc. as an aviation intern and has already obtained his private pilot’s license.

Since 1999, USAIG has sponsored 21 students seeking careers in business aviation through the PDP Scholarship program. NBAA, in cooperation with the University Aviation Association (UAA), created the PDP Professional Development Program to train future flight department leaders. For more information, visit www.nbaa.org/pdp.

The William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship
NBAA has selected two students pursuing careers as maintenance technicians to receive the William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship. The recipients, who will receive $2,500 each, are:

• Richard Allen Loucks, a senior majoring in aviation mechanics at the Michigan Institute of Aeronautics, who has worked on mechanical components of locomotives and rail cars for the Southern Michigan Railroad Society, Inc.
• Bradley Richard Ongna, who is currently a graduate student at Westwood College of Aviation Technology. Bradley received his Bachelor of Science in resource management, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point in 1996.

The William M. Fanning Maintenance Scholarship is named in honor of retired NBAA staff member William M. Fanning, who was active in maintenance issues during his nearly 20-year tenure at the Association. The first of the two annual scholarships benefits a student enrolled in an accredited airframe & powerplant (A&P) program at an approved FAR Part 147 school. The second scholarship benefits an individual who is not enrolled but has been accepted for enrollment into an A&P program.

The Avfuel Michigan Business Aviation Scholarship

NBAA has selected David Benjamin Smith, a junior majoring in aviation flight Science at Western Michigan University, as the recipient of this year’s $500 Avfuel Michigan Business Aviation Scholarship. David is also a licensed private pilot.

The Avfuel Corporation annually awards one $500 Scholarship to an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in an aviation-related program in the state of Michigan.

For More Information

NBAA offers 13 scholarships to promote professional and academic opportunities for development in business aviation careers. For more information, application forms and deadlines visit www.nbaa.org/scholarships.

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Founded in 1947, NBAA serves more than 7,000 Member Companies by promoting the aviation interests of organizations utilizing business aircraft in the United States and worldwide. The association provides more than 100 products and services to the business aviation community, including the NBAA Annual Meeting & Convention, the world’s largest civil aviation trade show. Learn more about NBAA at www.nbaa.org.