Embry-Riddle Awards Posthumous Degree

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Embry-Riddle Awards Posthumous Degree to Chief Warrant Officer David Ayala

Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 17, 2005 -- Army Chief Warrant Officer David Ayala of New Rochelle, N.Y., will be posthumously awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 5:30 p.m. in a ceremony at New Rochelle High School. The degree will be presented to David Ayala’s mother, Ms. Sonia Rodriguez, by Dr. Thomas Sieland, dean of the College of Career Education.

Ayala, 24, died April 6, 2005, along with 17 others when an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter went down in a heavy sandstorm in Afghanistan. Ayala had flown 50 hours of combat time in just one month while stationed at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. He was a member of Troop F, 159th Aviation Regiment.

As a student at Embry-Riddle’s Extended Campus center in Giebelstadt, Germany, Ayala had maintained a 3.5 grade point average.

“David was an awesome student. He was always on the dean’s list,” said Jerry Deese, director of Embry-Riddle’s Giebelstadt center. “And he was fun to be around.”

Ayala entered the Army upon completion of high school. He met his wife, Athena, in Bronx, N.Y. The couple married in 2002 while David was attending flight school at Ft. Rucker, Ala.

“He accomplished every one of his dreams, although his time was short,” said Athena Ayala. “He said everything he had to say. He did everything he had to do. He didn’t waste a moment of his life.”

The degree presentation is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Oct. 25, in the Small Theater at New Rochelle High School, 265 Clove Road, New Rochelle, N.Y. Visitors should check in through the security desk at the Teacher’s Entrance. Ayala’s mother, Ms. Sonia Rodriguez, would like to invite all students at the school to the presentation.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates more than 30,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Extended Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, and through distance learning.