Two Students Receive Scholarships Worth $2,500 Each

Airports Council International - North America’s (ACI-NA) Commissioners’ Committee accepted the Scholarship Review Committee's recommendation to award scholarships of $2,500 each to two aviation students, at the ACI-NA Commissioners’ Committee meeting in Calgary. Recipients include Deanna K. Stoddard, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and Nicholas A. Keller, a graduate student at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

“The Commissioners’ Committee is proud to honor these students for their academic excellence and leadership,” said Herb Hilliard, Chair of ACI-NA’s Commissioners’ Committee and member of the Memphis/Shelby County Airport Authority. “We felt that these two dedicated students represent the future of the aviation industry, and the Committee is confident that they will provide a positive influence throughout their careers.”

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 50 scholarships totaling $130,000 to students within the past 19 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.

Deanna Stoddard attends the University of Nebraska Omaha and is pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Aviation. Over the next year, Stoddard plans to complete coursework that will enable her to more effectively govern airport maintenance and utilities, while monitoring airport land use and environmental impacts in future career opportunities. Her public policy and administration coursework will prepare her for an airport career characterized by transparency and a cooperative relationship with the surrounding community.

Nicholas A. Keller is a student at Purdue University where he is pursuing a Master’s of Science in Aviation Management. After a summer internship at Yeager International Airport in Charleston, Keller was hired full time in airport management and has become the youngest Airport Security Coordinator in West Virginia. He aspires to become an airport director and has taken full advantage of all available opportunities to excel in airport management.

FMI: www.aci-na.org