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NAA ANNOUNCES MSGT KIMBERLY L. MUHLECKE

TO RECEIVE 2010 KATHARINE WRIGHT AWARD

          Arlington, Virginia, August 10, 2010 – The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced that United States Air Force Master Sergeant Kimberly L. Muhlecke will receive the prestigious Katharine Wright Award.

          This award is presented annually to a woman who has contributed to the success of others, or made a personal contribution to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation and space flight over an extended period of time. The award was named in honor of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s sister, Katharine, who was a crucial supporter of her brothers’ timeless work in the development of the first airplane.

          “We are extremely proud of the selection of Master Sergeant Muhlecke as the recipient of the 2010 Katherine Wright Trophy,” said Jonathan Gaffney, President and CEO of NAA and Chairman of the Selection Committee.  “While we had an extremely competitive group of nominations from throughout the United States, the Committee was unanimous that the remarkable work and career of Master Seargant Muhlecke was deserving of this very important award.”

          As an Air Force Aerospace Physiological Technician, Master Seargant Muhlecke commenced her career in 1992 and, in the past 18 years, has become one of the leading experts in the fields of physiology training, human performance training, altitude chamber training, endurance management, and U-2 pressure suit operations.  Her dedication, drive, and energy resulted in increasing responsibilities throughout her career and the training of thousands of Air Force personnel in her fields of expertise.  According to her nomination, her efforts to increase efficiency and readiness have saved the Air Force hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

          In addition to Mr. Gaffney also serving on the Selection Committee were Wichita Aero Club President Dave Franson, NAA Board member Elizabeth Matarese, Airbus General Counsel Renee Martin-Nagle, 99s Past President Pat Prentiss, and NAA Contest and Records Board member and Northwest Airlines retired 747 captain Sandy Anderson.

          The award will be presented at the NAA Fall Awards Banquet on Monday, November 8, 2010, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

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DONNA SHIRLEY NAMED RECIPIENT OF
2009 KATHARINE WRIGHT AWARD

Arlington, Virginia, June 30, 2009 – The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced that Donna Shirley will receive the 2009 NAA Katharine Wright Award.  Shirley is being honored for her remarkable career as a pilot, NASA engineer, educator, and an inspiration to young women seeking engineering and technical careers.

The Katherine Wright Award is presented annually to a woman who has contributed to the success of others, or made a personal contribution to the advancement of the art, sport and science of aviation and space flight over an extended period of time.  The award was named in honor of Orville and Wilbur Wright’s sister, Katharine who provided important financial, administrative, and technical support to the timeless achievement of her brothers.

Donna Shirley started flying lessons at the age of 15 and eventually a Commercial Pilot Certificate with Airplane, Single and Multi-engine Land and Seaplane Ratings and a Flight Instructor Certificate.  Obtaining two degrees from the University of Oklahoma (including a bachelor's degree in aerospace/mechanical engineering) she commenced a 32-year career with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory which saw her grow from the only degreed female among 2,000 engineers to serving as the first woman to manage a NASA program as project manager of the Mariner 10 mission to Venus and Mercury.  Later in her career she headed the team that built Sojourner, the Micro rover lander of the Mars Pathfinder Project which landed successfully on the surface of Mars in 1997.  Throughout her career, Donna has spent considerable energy and time encouraging young girls toward a career in engineering and technical fields.

She went on to teach at Oklahoma University’s College of Engineering and was awarded five honorary doctorates. She was named Woman of the Year by Glamour Magazine and MS Magazine. She served as a trustee for the Ninety-Nines Museum of Women Pilots and became the first director of the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle. She also has received NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and the National Space Society’s Wernher Von Braun Memorial Award.

The award will be presented at The Ninety-Nines Annual Convention this July in Chicago, Illinois.


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NAA ANNOUNCES UPS CAPTAIN KAREN LEE TO RECEIVE
2008 KATHARINE WRIGHT AWARD

Arlington, Virginia, September 25, 2008 – The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced that Captain Karen Lee will receive the NAA Katharine Wright Award for “her steadfast vision in pioneering UPS Airlines’ leading, globally recognized, research and implementation of ADS-B technology that is transforming the national air transportation system.”

The award will be presented at the NAA Fall Awards Banquet on Monday, November 3 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

Captain Lee has been an aviation pioneer almost her entire life. The daughter of an airline captain she began flying at 16 and later earned flight hours as a flight instructor and charter pilot. She became the first female commercial pilot in Puerto Rico when she began flying for a charter company.
 

She joined UPS in 1987, and later was promoted to several different management positions. She is currently director of operations for the UPS airline, the ninth largest airline in the world. In this role, Karen was responsible for UPS efforts in implementing ADS-B technology, a program that recently achieved aviation’s highest honor – the Collier Trophy.