Several Awards Handed Out At Event Earlier This Month

The National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) recognized excellence in its members and state aviation programs during the association's awards banquet held at their annual convention and tradeshow in Sioux Falls, South Dakota earlier this month.

Kenneth R. Rowe Ambassador of Aviation Award: NASAO’s highest honor was bestowed upon Randall P Burdette, Director of the Virginia Department of Aviation. Burdette has been a distinguished member of NASAO since 2004 and has been very active promoting aviation not only in Virginia but on a regional and national level as well. He served as NASAO’s Chairman in 2011. This award is presented in the name of Kenneth A. Rowe to honor State Aviation directors who embody his spirit, optimism, and fierce pride in the capabilities of the state aviation agencies. 

2012 Distinguished Service Award: The highest recognition that can be presented to a state aviation agency employee was awarded to Carol L. Aldrich, with the Office of Aeronautics, Michigan Department of Transportation. Aldrich has been a supervisor for the Project Management Unit for the last twelve years overseeing four project engineers and one technician. She also performs airport construction project management duties in a busy eight-county region in southeast Michigan.

2012 NASAO Center for Aviation Research & Education, Aviation Education Program Award: This award recognizes the efforts of the state aviation agencies to educate and motivate the public with aviation-related education programs. This year the award was presented to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Aeronautics for their Aviation Career Education (ACE) program. The program will be celebrating its 25th year next summer and is Wisconsin DOT’s flagship youth opportunity, providing aviation-oriented on-the-job training and education (with pay) for 35 disadvantaged students from the Milwaukee Public School System.

2012 Most Innovative State Program Award:  In 1984 NASAO established the Most Innovative State Program Award to recognize truly unique and service-oriented state aviation programs. The Colorado Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics was recognized this year for their Web-based Information Management System (WIMS). The WIMS program enables the Colorado Division of Aeronautics to keep succinct and complete records of their program from Capital Improvement Planning, Fuel Tax collection and distribution; grant applications, administration, and project close out.

FMI: www.nasao.org