2015 Aviation Awards Night

The Center for Aviation’s biggest night of the year was a big success! We hosted our annual Aviation Awards Night on April 7th at the Blackwell Hotel where our students presented their Capstone Projects in a poster session, and we gave out scholarship awards to six of our outstanding students. The awards included the brand new Bose Aviation Scholarship, the NetJets Scholarship Fund Award, the Aviatrix Award, the Hillsdale Collegiate Aviator Award, the Center for Aviation Graduating Senior Award, and the First Year Student Award.

The Bose Aviation Student Scholarship ($2,500) is given to a junior or senior in the Ohio State Center for Aviation Studies who wants to be a pilot and has a GPA of 3.0 or greater. This year’s winner is John Ginley. John earned his private pilot license at 17 years old and has been a flight instructor at Ohio State since his junior year. He secured funding to help restore “Buckeye 50” (OSU’s Cessna 150) and raised 18,000 for the Ohio State Flight Team. He is the co-captain of the Flight Team, which came in 1st in ground events and 2nd overall in the regional SAFECON. He flies rescued pets to new owners with Pilots and Paws and Christmas presents to underprivileged children with Operation Good Cheer.

The NetJets Scholarship Fund Award ($1000) is given to a junior or senior aviation major focusing on aviation management with a GPA of 3.0 or greater. This year’s winner is Courtney Bennett. Courtney works 2 jobs at Ohio State Airport in Customer Service and at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority in Operations. She does volunteer work with Women in Engineering, has studied abroad at Korean Aerospace University, and is the 2015 Director of Team Coordination NIFA SAFECON.

The Aviatrix Award ($1,000) is given to an outstanding female aviation major with a GPA of 3.0 or greater. This year’s winner is Allison Dennis. Allison has worked for the Aviation program for four years; two at the airport as a dispatcher and two at the Center as a Student Ambassador and Team Leader. She is the Founder and President of Women in Aviation at Ohio State and the Past President of Alpha Eta Rho, the aviation fraternity. She is a Flight Team mentor and competitor in E6B and other events. She earned the 2015 Desert Jet Flight Operations Internship.  In addition, Allison was also awarded the OSU Aviation Alumni Society Student Leadership Award ($1000).  Thanks to her tireless efforts to improve the Center for Aviation Studies she was well deserving of both awards.

The Hillsdale Collegiate Aviator Award ($1300) is given to an aviation major pursuing the professional pilot specialization with a 3.0 GPA and at least an 85 on FAA exams. This year’s winner is Mark Reese. Mark is the 2015 Director of Competition at SAFECON. He volunteers with Wings Over the Rockies and Youth Aviation Adventure to help encourage youth to join the aviation industry. He mentors incoming freshman in the Bell National Resource Center and helped double the size of the Afrikan American Learning Community.

The Center for Aviation Graduating Senior Award (1,000) is given to a graduating aviation major with an excellent GPA and class ranking. This year’s winner is Justin Abrams. Justin’s past awards include the First Year Student Aviation Award, the Eddowes Aviation Engineering Award, and the Hillsdale Collegiate Aviator Award. He helped create the Flight Operations Manual for Nationwide Insurance. He has assisted in the completion of the FAA’s PEGASUS project on Angle of Attack Indicators and completed flight tests with research participants. He is the co-creator and President of the Center for Aviation Studies Student Association which acts as an umbrella organization uniting all of the other aviation student organizations.   

The First Year Aviation Student Award ($1,000) is given to a first year aviation student with at least a 3.0 GPA who shows outstanding potential. This year’s winner is Marcus Collier. Marcus is a non-traditional student changing careers to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an airline pilot. He is a 2007 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, works full time as a sous chef at The Elevator Brewery, and has three children under the age of four. His younger brother, Nick Collier, is graduating this semester and credits Marcus for inspiring him to enter aviation.

Congratulations to all of our award-winning students. We admire your hard work and success, and we look forward to your future accomplishments.