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High-Flyers

Benjamin Drew Flies with Space Shuttle Endeavor

Embry-Riddle alumnus and NASA astronaut Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr. served as a mission specialist on space shuttle flight STS-118, from Aug. 8-21. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Drew earned a master’s degree in aerospace science from Embry-Riddle’s Las Vegas education center in 1995. He also has a master’s in strategic studies in political science from the U.S. Air Force Air University. In addition to Drew, five other alumni are astronauts: Daniel Burbank, who flew with the space shuttle in 2000 and 2006; Ronald Garan Jr., Susan Still-Kilrain, retired, who piloted two space shuttle missions in 1997; Nicole Stott; and Terry Virts Jr.

Michael Hickey Joins Space Florida’s Board

Michael Hickey, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, was appointed by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist to the board of directors of Space Florida. Hickey, an atmospheric scientist, will help the agency plan and implement economic and educational developments related to the space industry. He was one of eight appointees.

Robin Sobotta’s Airport Management Book Praised

Robin Sobotta is coauthor of the fifth edition (2007) of The Administration of Public Airports, with Laurence Gesell. Sobotta is associate professor and chair of the business department and associate director of the global security and intelligence studies program at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott campus. In an online review, James Landry, retired president of the Air Transport Association of America, predicted the volume will be one of the National Air and Space Museum’s “most heavily thumbed research resources for generations to come.” Since its release in July, the book (www.coastairepublications.com) has been ordered by nearly 60 airports in the United States, Canada, and abroad, faculty at more than 10 U.S. universities, and numerous airport authorities, ports, and governmental agencies.

Flight Teams Dominate National Competition

Embry-Riddle’s flight teams dominated the National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s (NIFA) Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) May 7-12 at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio. The Golden Eagles flight team from the Prescott, Ariz., campus took first place and the Eagles flight team from the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus placed third in the national competition. This year’s competition involved more than 400 pilots from 31 aviation programs around the nation. It was the sixth NIFA SAFECON national championship for the Golden Eagles, who also took the spot in 2005, 2003, 1999, 1997, and 1993. The Eagles of Daytona Beach took first in 1992. The Golden Eagles, led by head coach Jared Testa, also captured the Judges Trophy, as well as first place in flying events and ground events. The team placed first in four of 11 individual events. The Eagles team of the Daytona Beach campus, coached by David Zwegers, Les Westbrooks, and Bill Baker, took second overall in the flight events, third in the ground events, second for the Judges Trophy, and third in the national championship competition.

Douglas Selvage Receives NEH Grant for Warsaw Pact Study

Douglas Selvage, assistant professor of history at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus has received a two-year grant of $150,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to translate and annotate 2,370 pages of documents relating to the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet-led alliance in Eastern Europe from 1955-1990 that would have fought U.S. and NATO forces in a third world war. Selvage will translate formerly classified documents from Polish, Czech, German, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, and Russian into English for posting on the Web site of the Parallel History Project on Cooperative Security, which Foreign Affairs journal described in 2005 as “by far the most ambitious and integral project in the burgeoning field of Cold War history.”

The translations will provide new insights into questions such as: How did the Warsaw Pact function? Was there real danger of nuclear war? Were the communist states afraid of a U.S. first strike during the 1980s? Selvage will work with other translators and the project’s research director, Vojtech Mastny, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University, who will also annotate and edit documents. Selvage specializes in modern German and Polish history and the history of international relations.

Two Students Honored with Wings Club Scholarships

Two Embry-Riddle students majoring in aeronautical science were honored by the Wings Club with scholarships of $5,000 each. Nathanael Visser, a senior at the Prescott, Ariz., campus, received the annual Wings Club Scholarship. He is a member of that campus’s Golden Eagles flight team, which 2007 won the 2007 National Intercollegiate Flying Association’s Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference. Timothy Billon, a senior at the Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, received a scholarship at the request of Mauricio Botelho, chairman of Embraer, one of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers. Botelho was honored with the Wings Club’s Distinguished Achievement Award for 2007. The New York City-based Wings Club works to advance aeronautics and aviation.

ROTC Cadet’s Pledge Witnessed by President Bush

David Dryden was commissioned personally as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on May 17, two weeks after graduating from Embry-Riddle. President George W. Bush hosted the ceremony and witnessed the pledge by Dryden and 22 other Army ROTC cadets at the White House in Washington D.C. Dryden is the recipient of many awards, including the George C. Marshall Award. He earned a bachelor’s degree in global security and intelligence studies at the Prescott campus. He was nominated for the honor by Lt. Col. Tom Carlisle, a faculty member at Northern Arizona University, which hosts Prescott’s Army ROTC program. Dryden’s parents Bill and Arlene attended their son’s special commissioning ceremony.

Afterward, Arlene Dryden said, “To think of our David from birth and childhood to standing in front of the president of the United States was just surreal.” Now stationed in Fort Benning, Dryden said, “I feel blessed to be in my position, and I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for my folks.” Darlean Pope, secretary of the Army ROTC program at Prescott, said, “He was a super cadet. There is just something really special about David. I know he will do great things.”