ACI-NA Commissioners Award Scholarships to Aviation Students

CONTACT:
Eileen Denne, edenne@aci-na.aero (202) 293-4537
Megan Miller, mmiller@aci-na.org, (202) 861-8080

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ACI-NA Commissioners Award Scholarships to Aviation Students

Washington, D.C. (August 22, 2007) - Airports Council International - North America's (ACI-NA) Commissioners Committee recently presented three scholarships of $2,500 each to deserving aviation students. Recipients include Heather E. Williams, a student at Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology, Barrie, Ontario, Canada; Richard J. Mosler, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona; and Michelle Lanning, Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

"Each of these students represents the future of the aviation industry," said Stephen J. Mitchell, chairman of ACI-NA's Commissioner Committee and Board Chairman, Hillsborough County Aviation Authority in Tampa, Florida. "Commissioners from airport boards in North America are proud to present them with scholarships to help them achieve their goals and potentially move into roles at airports."

The Commissioners' Committee Scholarship is designed to encourage and promote excellence in the educational areas necessary for effective airport management or operation. The ACI-NA Commissioners' Committee has awarded over thirty scholarships totaling more than $90,000 to students within the past 15 years.

ACI-NA Commissioners established the Scholarship Fund in October 1993 to recognize students with high academic achievement who are working toward a career in airport management or airport operations. The scholarship program recognizes the importance of the highly specialized education necessary for an individual to receive to fill the extremely complex and multi-disciplined role of being a professional airport administrator or airport operator.

To effectively run today's modern aviation facilities an airport manager or airport operator must have high levels of management, operational and accounting skills coupled with some aviation experience.

Details on the 2007 scholarship winners follow:

Heather E. Williams attends Georgian College of Applied Arts and Technology in Barrie, Ontario, Canada, where she majors in Aviation Management. She has completed approximately 75 percent of the required credit hours with a GPA of 77.06 (Canadian Scaling). Heather had the highest average of all of the Canadian applicants. She interned at the Greater Toronto Airport Authority through the start of 2007. Heather's goal upon completing the program is to seek a Masters in Aviation Management.

Richard J. Mosler attends Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona, and will graduate in May, 2008, with a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Safety and Airport Management. He has a cumulative GPA of 3.53 and has been active in various student aviation-oriented organizations. His goal is to receive a Masters in Aviation Business Management and to seek a career as an airport executive. He is currently in Seattle as an intern at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where he works in the area of airport operations.

Michelle Lanning attends Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and will graduate in May, 2008, with a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics/Aviation Management. She has a cumulative GPA of 3.74. Michelle currently works at the Akron-Fulton International Airport for a flight school and air charter company. She is focused on becoming an airport executive.

About ACI-NA:
The mission of Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA) is to advocate policies and provide services that strengthen the ability of air carrier airports to serve their passengers, customers and communities. ACI-NA represents local, regional and state governing bodies that own and operate commercial airports in the United States and Canada. ACI-NA member airports enplane more than 95 percent of the domestic and virtually all the international airline passenger and cargo traffic in North America. Nearly 400 aviation-related businesses are also members of the association, which is the largest of the five worldwide regions of Airports Council International.