Jump to content

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University

Coordinates: 29°11′19″N 81°02′55″W / 29.18857°N 81.04871°W / 29.18857; -81.04871
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Sean Scheiderer (talk | contribs) at 15:30, 29 January 2014 (Added citation for "non-profit" designation in Infobox). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
File:Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Seal.png
MottoReal Education. Above all.
TypePrivate (Non-Profit)[1]
EstablishedIn 1926 as the Embry-Riddle Flying School.[2]
Endowment$80,941,782[3]
PresidentJohn P. Johnson
Academic staff
2,983 (452 at residential campuses)[4]
Students34,532 (6,794 at residential campuses)[4]
Location
Daytona Beach
,
Florida, and Prescott, Arizona
,
USA
AthleticsNAIA
ColorsBlue and Gold   
MascotEagles
Websiteerau.edu

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University (also as Embry-Riddle, ERAU, or Riddle) is a non-profit private university in the United States, with campuses in Arizona and Florida, specializing in aviation and aerospace higher education.[5] It teaches the science, practice, and business of aviation and aerospace. Called "The Harvard of the Sky" by Time Magazine in 1979,[6] Embry-Riddle has a history dating back to the early days of aviation. Students enroll in one of two residential campuses located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, or in Embry-Riddle Worldwide, composed of over 150 campuses around the world including online learning. Embry-Riddle Worldwide serves working civilians and serving military personnel.

Embry-Riddle began in 1925 as the Embry-Riddle Company, an aircraft dealer and airmail provider, founded by Talton Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was incorporated in 1930 into what is now American Airlines. In Miami, Florida, during the buildup to World War II, Riddle partnered with John G. McKay and his wife Isabel to found the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation, and later, the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute, which moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1965 and was renamed Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in 1970. The Prescott, Arizona campus opened in 1978.

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University offers degrees in aviation, engineering, business, sciences and arts. The university offers undergraduate Bachelor's degrees, graduate Master's degrees, including Master of Science in Aeronautics, Aerospace Engineering, Aviation Finance, Business Administration in Aviation Management, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Engineering Physics, Human Factors and Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Multidisciplinary Engineering, Safety Science, Software Engineering and PhD degrees in Aviation (the first such program in the world), and Engineering Physics.[5] From 2010 Embry-Riddle Worldwide offered the MBA in Aviation Management degree jointly with the Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA). Non-degree programs are also offered.

History

Early days

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University opened its doors on December 17, 1925, exactly 22 years after the Wright Brothers' first flight, when Talton Higbee Embry and John Paul Riddle formed the Embry-Riddle Company at Lunken Airport in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was financed by Talton Higbee Embry, a wealthy aviation enthusiast who served as company president. Riddle was named general partner, and the two began to sell Waco Aircraft in Cincinnati. In the spring of 1926 (the date shown on the university seal), the Embry-Riddle Company opened the Embry-Riddle Flying School. On December 17, 1927, the Embry-Riddle Company established Cincinnati's first regular air mail service, from Cincinnati to Chicago.[7]

The school grew rapidly in 1928 and 1929, until what was now the Embry-Riddle Aviation Corporation was merged with the Aviation Corporation (AVCO) of Delaware. AVCO phased out the Embry-Riddle Flying School in the fall of 1930. Shortly after, AVCO became American Airways (the predecessor of American Airlines), and the Embry-Riddle Company was gone.[7]

File:Aviationbldg1.jpg
The Fritz Hotel in Miami, Florida. Embry-Riddle occupied the building prior to moving to Daytona Beach, Florida.

In 1939 Riddle contacted Embry with a view to getting back into training pilots, but Embry was not interested. Riddle, now living in Miami, Florida, found a partner in John G. McKay and his wife Isabel. Keeping the Embry-Riddle name, they re-established the Embry-Riddle School of Aviation, partnering with the University of Miami to provide flight training under the Civilian Pilot Training Program, increasing the number of pilots immediately preceding World War II. The Embry-Riddle School of Aviation expanded rapidly, and soon moved to the former Fritz Hotel.[8]

Riddle and McKay also formed the Riddle Aeronautical Institute at Carlstrom Field, in early 1941 for the purpose of training pilots for the United States Army Air Corps (the U.S. Air Force did not yet exist). A separate division of Embry-Riddle provided technical training in maintenance and metal work. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Embry-Riddle and its various divisions expanded rapidly to train aviators during the war, and the Carlstrom Field facility trained pilots for the Royal Air Force, while nearby Dorr Field prepared pilots for advanced training with the U.S. Army Air Forces.[8]

Embry-Riddle quickly exhausted the market for flight training. In late 1943 Brazil’s Air Minister requested Embry-Riddle establish a flight school in São Paulo, Brazil, to provide Brazilian cadets with technical instruction. By early 1944, Escola Técnica de Aviação had been established and provided basic, aircraft, engines, and instrument departments. In 1944 McKay purchased Riddle's share of Embry-Riddle as Riddle chose to remain in Brazil.[8]

Development into a university

Following the end of World War II, the McKays continued the business of training pilots. After John McKay's death in 1951, his wife Isabel McKay led the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute. The school endured financial hardship, but continued to operate in Miami. Isabel McKay suffered a stroke in 1961, and in 1963 sold the school. That same year, Jack R. Hunt was named the first president of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute.[9] ERAI continued the training of pilots and mechanics in Miami until April 1965, when Hunt moved the campus to its current home in Daytona Beach, Florida.[2]

Embry-Riddle's move from Miami was carried out with money and trucks borrowed from a group of Volusia County civic leaders known as the Committee of 100.[10] The school was packed into trucks and moved nearly overnight. Known as "Operation Bootstrap", the move was accomplished with the help of the Daytona Beach News-Journal, which supplied the trucks.

The Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Institute was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1968[11] and was renamed Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University in 1970.[12]

Hunt headed a large expansion of Embry-Riddle, including the purchase of a second campus in Prescott, Arizona, in 1978.[13] Embry-Riddle purchased the former campus of Prescott College, which closed abruptly in 1974 from financial hardship.[14] Hunt served as president until his death on January 7, 1984.[15] Hunt was followed by Lt. General Kenneth L. Tallman, who, in his five years as president, formed Embry-Riddle's first graduate program. Tallman also added undergraduate degrees in Engineering Physics and Electrical Engineering.[12]

Embry-Riddle's third president was Steven M. Sliwa, who presided over the university from 1991 until 1998. Sliwa oversaw the largest expansion in Embry-Riddle's history, according to the ERAU website developing new majors and a capital expansion in excess of US$100 million.[2] This included the ICI Center (fieldhouse), Lehman Engineering and Technology Center, Capt. Willie Miller Instructional Center and Student Village on the Daytona Beach campus. Sliwa was followed by George H. Ebbs, who served as president until November 2005.

Ebbs expanded the university into several affiliate programs and was president during the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon. Following the attacks, federal investigators thought that the school might have trained at least one of the aircraft hijackers, but after a short investigation it was found that ERAU had no involvement in the flight training of the terrorists. A former student who had the same name as one of the hijackers was found to have no connections to Al-Qaeda.[16][17][18]

During his tenure as president, Ebbs expanded Embry-Riddle into non-traditional university projects, such as Embry-Riddle's Commercial Airline Pilot Training program (CAPT program), which was sold in 2006.[19] Ebbs also entered the university into a five-year contract with The United States Air Force Academy for Embry-Riddle to provide flight training for its cadets in 2002.[20]

In 2006 John P. Johnson, previously University Provost and Interim President, became Embry-Riddle's fifth president.[21]

Ranking

In the 2012 edition of U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges, the Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach campus is ranked thirteenth in Regional Universities (South);[22]

Organization and accreditation

Embry-Riddle is organized into two residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, and a "worldwide campus". Each campus is organized into colleges and departments. University-wide functional departments are headed by vice presidents.[23][24]

As of 2011 John P. Johnson was the president of the university, Richard H. Heist was executive vice president and chief academic officer of the Daytona Beach Campus,[25] and Francis P. Ayers was the executive vice president and chief academic officer of the Prescott, Arizona Campus.[26]

The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools,[11] and its various degrees are accredited by other relevant official bodies (for example, its engineering programs are accredited through ABET).[27]

Daytona Beach, Florida campus

Main article: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach
The Wright Flyer statue is the centerpiece of the Daytona Beach campus. The Jack R. Hunt Memorial Library is visible in the background.

Embry-Riddle's largest residential campus (185-acre (0.75 km2)) and academic headquarters has been in Daytona Beach, Florida since the move from Miami in 1965. Built adjacent to the Daytona Beach International Airport, the campus is connected to an aircraft ramp owned by the university for flight training. The main campus consists of an aviation complex, academic quad and residence halls surrounding the student center and Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park. Athletic facilities and the ICI Center are at the east end of campus.

Total fall 2010 enrollment at the Daytona Beach campus was 5,089: 4,496 undergraduate and 593 graduate students.[4] Aeronautical science (flight training) and aerospace engineering are the two most popular degrees at the Daytona Beach campus. Daytona Beach's aerospace engineering degree program is the largest in the nation[citation needed].

Embry-Riddle's Daytona Beach campus has one of the most extensive Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) programs in the United States and the nation's largest Air Force ROTC program.[28] The ROTC program frequently wins national competitions.[29][30][31] The engineering physics program at the Daytona Beach campus is currently the largest undergraduate engineering physics program in the country and the only one specializing in aerospace.[32]

The Daytona Beach campus sponsors 16 intercollegiate sports. The Eagles are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and compete in The Sun Conference. Embry-Riddle's athletics are directed by basketball head-coach Steve Ridder. On October 2, 2006, Ridder was named NAIA National Athletic Director of the Year.[33] Ridder led the school to its first national title in any sport in 2000, in basketball. In 2013, the men's tennis team won their first national title. In addition to the two team national titles, the eagles have many individual national champions. Since 2005, 4 women and 2 men have won individual national titles in track and field, as well as 3 men for tennis. Many of the individuals were 2 and 3 time repeat champions. Additionally, 1 women's and 2 men's tennis duos have won national doubles championships. In all, the eagle's have won 20 individual/doubles national titles from 2005 to 2013.[34]

Prescott, Arizona campus

Campus view

Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott opened in 1978. The University's campus in Prescott, Arizona, is 100 miles north of Phoenix. The campus has an enrollment of about 1,850 students and covers 539 acres. The flight training center is at nearby Prescott Love Field Municipal Airport.

Facilities at the Prescott Campus include the Aerospace Experimentation and Fabrication Building, a wind tunnel lab with one supersonic and four subsonic wind tunnels, the aviation safety center with an accident investigation lab, library, the 48,000 sq ft. academic complex, the engineering and technology center, chapel, dining hall, student union and residence halls.

Total fall 2013 student enrollment at the Prescott campus was 1,800 students, including 51 graduate students.

The Prescott campus offers the only Global Security and Intelligence Studies program in the US.

Embry-Riddle's two Air Force ROTC detachments form the largest university-based Air Force commissioning source in the nation. Embry-Riddle's AFROTC detachments also produce more commissioned officers, more pilots and other rated officers for the Air Force than any other institution in the nation except the Air Force Academy. Army ROTC also operates a large detachment on the Prescott Campus.[35]

The Prescott campus is home to the Golden Eagles Flight Team, which competes in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association. Prescott's Golden Eagles Flight Team has won the regional championship each year for the past 23 years and are the NIFA National Champions for the years 1993, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2012.[36]

Worldwide campus

Main article: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Worldwide

Embry-Riddle Worldwide was established in 1970 and is a network of more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Canada, the Middle East, and Asia, plus a virtual "online campus".[37] It is available at installations with aviation functions for students not able to attend a residential campus. Many study programs are offered at undergraduate and post-graduate level. In the 2009-2010 school year 27,261 students, many serving with the United States Armed Forces, were enrolled in the worldwide campus.[4] Embry-Riddle Worldwide is organized into three divisions: Academic Affairs, Worldwide Online (which offers degrees through Internet classes), and the Center for Professional Education (which offers continuing education credits and non-degree programs). As of 2012 it was headed by Executive Vice President John R. Watret.

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University alumni

References

  1. ^ "Fast Facts About Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University". Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Embry-Riddle - The Embry-Riddle Story". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Archived from the original on June 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  3. ^ "Best Colleges 2014". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "Enrollment, ERAU-News, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  5. ^ a b "Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Fast Facts". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Archived from the original on June 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-19. Cite error: The named reference "fastfacts" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Education: Learning to Fix It or Fly It - Embry-Riddle: The Harvard of the Sky". Time Magazine. July 2, 1979. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  7. ^ a b "The Early Years". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  8. ^ a b c "Embry-Riddle Reborn". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  9. ^ Douglas, Rebecca (April 9, 2007). "The McKay Factor" (PDF). LIFT Magazine (ERAU). Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  10. ^ "Embry-Riddle to dedicate Jack R. Hunt Aviator Park" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. January 23, 2003. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  11. ^ a b "Commission on Colleges". Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  12. ^ a b Linville, Ray P. (January/March 1999). "Embry-Riddle offers aviation and aerospace education". Logistics Spectrum. 33 (1). Huntsville: 32 (2 pages). {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "The Embry-Riddle Story". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2011-03-12.
  14. ^ "Yavapai Heritage Roundup". Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  15. ^ Associated Press (January 9, 1984). "Jack Hunt Dies at 65; Flew Atlantic in Blimp". New York Times.
  16. ^ Viglucci, Andres (September 15, 2001). "Hijack plotters used S. Florida as a cradle for conspiracy". The Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2001-10-19. Retrieved 2007-07-01. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Ebbs, George (October 8, 2001). "Open letter from President George Ebbs". The Avion Newspaper. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  18. ^ "Reflections of Sept. 11". The Avion Newspaper. September 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  19. ^ "CAPT History". Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  20. ^ "Embry-Riddle Wins Contract to Train Air Force Pilots" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. August 13, 2002. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
  21. ^ Harper, Mark (August 9, 2006). "ERAU selects own for president". Daytona Beach News-Journal. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  22. ^ U.S. News and World Report - Regional University South Rankings
  23. ^ "Organizational Chart". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  24. ^ "Academic Organizations (Colleges and Departments)". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2007-08-13.
  25. ^ http://www.erau.edu/administration/senior-leadership/heist.html
  26. ^ http://www.erau.edu/administration/senior-leadership/ayers.html
  27. ^ "Accredited Program Details". Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  28. ^ "AFA Association Honors Embry-Riddle President" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. July 1, 2005. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  29. ^ "Air Force ROTC Detachment Named Best in Nation" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. August 9, 1999. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
  30. ^ "Daytona Beach Air Force ROTC Detachment Named Top Unit in Nation" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. October 30, 2002. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
  31. ^ "Air Force ROTC Programs Thrive at Embry-Riddle's Residential Campuses" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. June 29, 2001. Retrieved 2006-12-25.
  32. ^ "Engineering Physics Program". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  33. ^ "ERAU's Ridder named NAIA Athletics Director of the Year" (Press release). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. October 3, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  34. ^ http://erauathletics.com/sports/2012/6/11/erau_nationalchampions.aspx?tab=nationalchampions
  35. ^ "Embry-Riddle Did You Know?". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  36. ^ "Golden Eagles Flight Team". Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
  37. ^ "Embry-Riddle Worldwide". Retrieved 10 May 2012.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

29°11′19″N 81°02′55″W / 29.18857°N 81.04871°W / 29.18857; -81.04871

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Embry–Riddle_Aeronautical_University&oldid=592971577"