Moya Olsen Lear Gift to Fund Women's Scholarships at Embry-Riddle
Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 1, 1999 -- Aviation pioneer and
philanthropist Moya Olsen Lear will donate to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University the $10,000 check she accepted as part of the 1999 Amelia Earhart Pioneering Achievement Award. The check, given to her July 24 at the annual Amelia Earhart Festival in the famous aviator's hometown, Atchison, Kans., is meant to fund programs that encourage and support young women.
Lear will formally present the check to Embry-Riddle during a
ceremony in her honor at the National Business Aviation Association's annual convention in Atlanta, Ga. The ceremony will be held 1-2 p.m., Oct. 13, in Press Conference Room 363W, at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Embry-Riddle will use Lear's gift to fund scholarships for women
majoring in aeronautical science on its Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., campuses. In 1992, Lear also established the Moya and Bill Lear Endowed Scholarship at the university.
"I can't think of a better place than Embry-Riddle to give a
scholarship gift in the name of Amelia Earhart and Moya Lear," said Lear in announcing her donation.
"One of the university's most important needs is scholarship
assistance for students," said George H. Ebbs, Embry-Riddle president. "What an honor it is to receive continuing support from Moya Lear."
As noted in her Amelia Earhart award, Lear has triumphed over
adversity, has modeled self-worth and self-confidence for young women, and has shown women that the sky is no longer the limit.
She and her husband, Bill Lear, creator of the Learjet, the
autopilot, and the eight-track tape, caused an international sensation in 1956 when they became the first private pilots to fly into Moscow during the Cold War. After her husband's death in 1978, she oversaw the completion and the first flight of his final invention, the Lear Fan, a rear-driven propeller aircraft made using epoxy resin and graphite.
Lear has devoted her time and money to community activities,
education, and the arts. She has served on the board of directors of arts and community groups in Nevada, where she lives, on President Ronald Reagan's International Private Enterprise Task Force, and on the board of trustees of Embry-Riddle. She has received many awards and honors for her activities, including an honorary doctorate from Embry-Riddle in 1981.
Embry-Riddle, the world's largest, fully accredited university
specializing in aviation and aerospace, meets the needs of students and industry through its educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Degree programs through the master's level are offered at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., at more than 100 teaching sites in the U.S. and Europe, and through independent study and distance education.
|
