Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy

Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy
Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy
Awarded for"significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States".[1]
CountryUnited States of America
Presented byNational Aeronautic Association
First awarded1948
Currently held byRobert Crippen
WebsiteOfficial website
The original trophy, awarded from 1948 to 2009

The Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy was established by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) in 1948 after a trust fund was created in 1936 by Godfrey Lowell Cabot of Boston, a former president of the NAA. It is awarded to a living American for "significant public service of enduring value to aviation in the United States."[1] The presentation of the award is made annually at the Aero Club of Washington, as close as possible to December 17 each year,[2] the day on which, in 1903, the Wright brothers made the first flight in an airplane.[3] The inaugural recipient of the trophy was William F. Durand, "a pioneer in aeronautics, naval propulsion and engineering research methods".[4] Until 2010, winners of the award received a trophy depicting the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer aircraft.[5] From 2010 onwards, a redesigned trophy featuring a silver obelisk and bronze inscription has been awarded.[1]

The trophy has been awarded to women on four occasions: Olive Ann Beech, founding partner and president of Beech Aircraft, received the award in 1980;[6] Marion Blakey, former administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration and chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, was honored in 2013,[7] Colleen Barrett, President Emeritus of Southwest Airlines, was the 2016 recipient,[8] and retired NASA astronaut and USAF pilot Eileen Collins[9] received the trophy in 2022.

  1. ^ a b c "Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy". National Aeronautic Association. Archived from the original on June 3, 2017. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "The 2017 Wright Memorial Dinner". Aero Club of Washington. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  3. ^ "17 December". European Space Agency. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017.
  4. ^ "William Durand". Stanford University. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  5. ^ "News of the Day". The Age. No. 29536. Melbourne, Australia. December 26, 1949. p. 2. Retrieved December 11, 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference olive was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Bruno, Michael (February 24, 2015). "Blakey Leaving AIA For Rolls-Royce North America". Aviation Week. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  8. ^ "Interview: Greg Principato. President of the National Aeronautic Association". Flightglobal. February 22, 2017. Archived from the original on December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Collins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).