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Top Business and Government Leaders to Speak at Embry-Riddle Commencement

Daytona Beach, Fla., April 12, 2006 -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will hold three commencement ceremonies in May on its Daytona Beach Campus, with 685 students from that campus graduating in two ceremonies and 273 students from the Extended Campus graduating in another ceremony. All three events will be held in the school’s ICI Center at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.

Graduates of the Daytona Beach Campus will attend commencement exercises on Saturday, May 6. Students in the College of Aviation will graduate at 9 a.m. The guest speaker is Barbara Barrett, president of Triple Creek Guest Ranch and chair of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy. She will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) for her contributions to humanity and human welfare.

Commencement for students in the Colleges of Arts & Sciences, Business, and Engineering is at 2 p.m., also on Saturday, May 6. The guest speaker is Dr. Irene Trowell-Harris, a retired U.S. Air Force major general who is the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Women Veterans. She will receive the Eagle of Aviation Award for her significant and notable contributions to aviation.

The Extended Campus commencement is Sunday, May 7, at 10 a.m. The guest speaker is Dave Barger, president and chief operating officer of JetBlue Airways. He will receive the Distinguished Speaker Award in recognition of his professional accomplishments and national stature.

Professor emeritus will be awarded during the College of Aviation commencement ceremony to Don Smith. It was also awarded to Jim Lewis in a ceremony in early April before his death.

Jim Lewis, a professor of Aeronautical Science, joined Embry-Riddle in 1987. His areas of specialty were aerodynamics, aircraft performance, and aviation accident investigation. Lewis was the author of two textbooks: Flight Theory and Aerodynamics: A Practical Guide for Operational Safety and Modern Jet Transport Performance: A Technical Based Pilot’s Performance Reference. He was very active in Embry-Riddle’s Faculty Senate for 12 years, including serving as Faculty Speaker. Lewis was the only professor to win his department’s Outstanding Performance Award twice, and he also received his department’s Outstanding Service Award. In addition, Lewis was honored with the university’s Outstanding Service Award, a Presidential Citation, and two Presidential Innovation Awards.

Don Smith, an associate professor of Aeronautical Science, joined Embry-Riddle in 1991. He brought a wealth of experience to his aerodynamics and aircraft performance classes and has published numerous articles on the benefits of experience in the classroom. Smith is a retired Navy fighter pilot, a graduate of the “Top Gun” fighter pilot school, a former airline pilot, and a former West Africa bush pilot. At Embry-Riddle he received four Faculty Appreciation Awards from graduating classes, the first Sigma Chi Faculty of the Year Award, and two Presidential Innovation Awards. Smith also served in the Faculty Senate and coached the rowing team for six years. While teaching at Embry-Riddle he was the first mayor of the city of DeBary, Fla.

Dave Barger has been the president and chief operating officer of JetBlue Airways since 1998. The award-winning low-fare carrier is based in New York City and serves 35 cities in the United States and the Caribbean. Under Barger’s leadership, JetBlue was the first American airline to introduce “paperless cockpit” flight technology, the only American airline to be 100 percent ticketless, and the first and only airline to install security cameras in the passenger cabin for customer and crew safety. Previously Barger held various management positions with Continental Airlines and New York Air. In 2003 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Entrepreneur of the Year Program.

Barbara Barrett, owner and president of the Triple Creek Guest Ranch resort in Darby, Mont., is also a business and aviation attorney who serves on the corporate boards of Raytheon Company and Exponent Inc. Early in her career Barrett worked as corporate counsel to two Fortune 500 companies. As an instrument-rated pilot she was appointed vice chair of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board and later served as the first female deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. Barrett was the first Republican woman to run for the office of governor in Arizona. She is a recipient of the Horatio Alger Association’s Distinguished American Award.

Dr. Irene Trowell-Harris is the director of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Women Veterans in Washington, D.C. She served 38 years in the U.S. Air Force/Air National Guard, retiring in 2001 with the rank of major general. She was the first African-American woman in the history of the National Guard to be promoted to general officer. Dr. Trowell-Harris received the Air Force Distinguished Service and Legion of Merit Awards, and a Tuskegee Airmen Inc. chapter was named in her honor. A registered nurse, she has been inducted into the Columbia University Nursing Hall of Fame. This summer she will be honored at Yale University as a distinguished alumna.

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 and meets the needs of students and industry through educational, training, research, and consulting activities. Embry-Riddle educates more than 32,000 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.

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