CIVIL AVIATION LEADER BOYER TO BE AU COLLEGE OF BUSINESS DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER

AUBURN - Phil Boyer, president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, will be the Aviation Management Distinguished Speaker for the College of Business at Auburn University, Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m., in 125 Lowder Business Building.

Under Boyer’s leadership, AOPA membership has grown by more than 33 percent to include more than two-thirds of all certificated pilots in the U.S., and the association has earned the distinction of being listed among the top 100 in the U.S.

Before becoming president of AOPA, Boyer was an ABC vice president, vice president of New York’s WABC-TV News and general manager of Chicago’s WLS-TV. He created ABC’s “Wide World of Flying,” a quarterly subscription-based video magazine.

In 1992, Boyer was elected president of the International Council of Aircraft Owner and Pilot Associations, which represents 56 national AOPA organizations with more than 420,000 pilot members around the world.

As president of the AOPA, the largest and one of the most influential civil aviation organizations in the world, Boyer is the country’s leading spokesman for the interests of general aviation, a field that includes all types of flying other than airlines and military flights.

To promote general aviation safety, Boyer led a successful campaign to persuade the Federal Aviation Administration that the satellite-based Global Positioning System should be endorsed, developed, and certified for use in general aviation flight operations, and GPS is now a principal element in advanced air navigation.

AOPA’s state-of-the-art Web site, at www.aopa.org, provides real-time complete weather and other up-to-the-minute information and demonstrates Boyer’s lifelong advocacy of applied advanced technology. AOPA is now working on technology to bring real-time weather, traffic, and terrain information into the cockpit.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, Boyer helped calm and educate both the general aviation community and the public, and also brought clarity and reason to the government agencies that regulate general aviation pilots. AOPA has become the industry leader in the constant struggle to maintain open and accessible skies while recognizing the need for increased security.

The College of Business at Auburn University is accredited at the undergraduate and graduate levels by AACSB, the highest standard of achievement for business schools. Less than one-third of U.S. business schools and only 15 percent of business schools worldwide meet the rigorous standards of AACSB International accreditation. Institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review.

Auburn University is a preeminent land-grant and comprehensive research institution with more than 23,500 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn offers more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Dianne Townsend.)

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oct06:AU-boyer10-19-06