Jack Pelton to Speak at Embry-Riddle Commencement

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Cessna Aircraft CEO Jack Pelton to Speak at Embry-Riddle Commencement

Daytona Beach, Fla., Nov. 27, 2007 -- Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will hold commencement ceremonies for 364 students on Monday, Dec. 17, at 10 a.m. in the Ocean Center, Daytona Beach. The guest speaker will be Jack Pelton, the chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Cessna Aircraft Company. He will receive the university’s Eagle of Aviation Award for his significant contributions to aviation.

The day before commencement, on Sunday, Dec. 16, all four Embry-Riddle colleges will participate in a joint hooding ceremony for master’s candidates at 4:30 p.m. in Embry-Riddle’s Miller Instructional Center auditorium. The colleges will hold a joint reception for their master’s candidates in the College of Aviation atrium immediately following the hooding ceremony.

Commencement speaker Jack Pelton leads Cessna Aircraft Company, the largest worldwide manufacturer of general aviation aircraft. Headquartered in Wichita, Kan., Cessna has produced more than 189,000 aircraft since the company was founded in 1927, including the largest global fleet of nearly 5,000 business jets. Embry-Riddle uses high-tech Cessna 172 airplanes in its training fleet.

Pelton has more than three decades of aviation experience. He joined Cessna in 2000 as senior vice president of product engineering and oversaw Cessna’s engineering and product development activities, including new aircraft development, design, experimental and production test flight, certifications, and product improvements for all Cessna models. He was named president and CEO in 2003 and chairman in 2005.

Before joining Cessna, Pelton was senior vice president of engineering and programs at Fairchild Dornier in Germany and was responsible for the 728JET aircraft family. He also held numerous executive positions at Boeing (formerly Douglas Aircraft).

Owing to his position as leader of the world’s largest general aviation manufacturing company, Pelton helps formulate national policy on general aviation and is frequently called on to testify before Congress and government agencies on industry issues. He was recently awarded the Kansas Chamber of Commerce Ad Astra Award as the state’s most influential business leader in 2006.

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. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.