Worldwide - Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Business Leader David B. O’Maley and former National Transportation Safety Board Official Dennis Jones to serve as keynote speakers at separate events.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott and Worldwide Campuses will graduate more than 400 students at the University’s Spring 2019 Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 4, at 10 a.m. at the Findlay Toyota Center. This is the largest graduating class since the campus opened in 1978.

Amy Ramos, a senior undergraduate at Embry-Riddle, and two accomplished graduate students – Karen Brun and Heidi Hammerstein – were selected to join a team of 13 talented female scientist-astronaut candidates who will serve as global ambassadors for space science and exploration. The trio was chosen by an astronautics research and education program called Project PoSSUM (Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere). The PoSSUM 13 ambassadors -- so-named to honor the legacy of an earlier group of female astronaut trainees known as the Mercury 13 – will lead student teams participating in an International Microgravity Challenge. Female students between the ages of 13 and 17 are being invited to propose science experiments to be performed in microgravity this October, in concert with the National Research Council of Canada and Project PoSSUM.

An accomplished scientist-astronaut and two leading aerospace executives were unanimously confirmed to serve on the Board of Trustees of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on March 22, 2019.

As Chancellor of the Embry-Riddle Worldwide Campus, Dr. John R. Watret knows the power of women in aviation. Now, he knows what happens when it’s combined with the power of Twitter.

Permanent $3 Million Endowment to Increase Underrepresented Populations in the Pilot Workforce

Embry-Riddle’s Dr. Kristy Kiernan, program chair for the Master of Science in Unmanned Systems, focuses on bringing together the safety culture of aviation and the “innovation culture” of drones, particularly given the promise of drones to benefit society by improving public safety. Recently on Forbes.com, she explored the risks that drones could pose to air travel. Do small unmanned aerial systems, or drones, pose a threat to airplanes and airline passengers? If drones end up where they don’t belong, they could be a hazard to manned aircraft.  We have regulations and technology that should prevent drones from being in the same airspace as manned aircraft, but these safeguards don’t always work.  Alleged drone sightings have shut down operations at Gatwick, Heathrow, Newark, Dubai, Sao Paulo, and Dublin airports, among others. On Feb. 21, 2019, flight operations at Dublin airport were briefly suspended following a confirmed sighting of a drone over the airfield.

For the fourth consecutive year, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Worldwide Campus has retained the top spot in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Online Bachelor’s Programs for Veterans.

The world’s premier aviation and aerospace institution, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, earned the No.1 spot on U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 ranking of the United States’ best online bachelor’s degree programs, affirming the school’s focus on academic excellence, affordability and promising career opportunities for graduates.

Early in her career with the U.S. Army, Embry-Riddle student Natasha Ryan deployed to Bosnia, Kuwait and Pakistan, where she supported humanitarian aid efforts through the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan. However, a chance meeting with two female “Big Windy” pilots who flew the heavy-lift, tandem-rotor, CH-47 Chinook helicopters, motivated her to pursue a new path in Army aviation. Becoming an aviation safety officer, Ryan served with the 4th Infantry Division in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. She returned stateside and again deployed, this time to Iraq, where she helped evacuate injured service members. At the urging of a friend, and inspired to do more to ensure service members have safe passage to accomplish their mission, she applied to become a Tillman Scholar. In 2018, Ryan was chosen as one of 60 scholarship recipients out of 2,500 applicants.

Valentina Waters, an Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Campus Engineering senior, believes in helping others, and she sees science as a way to magnify her efforts. “Helping others is what ‘makes the world go ‘round,’” she said. “So why not do it in a smart way that uses technology?” Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, Waters grew up with 11 siblings and parents who reinforced the importance of looking out for one another. Today, she tries to translate that lesson through circuitry and wiring, hoping to craft designs that might one day change the world.

The Flight Safety Foundation on Jan. 7 announced that it has restructured its academic membership category to better serve students interested in aviation and that Embry-Riddle has signed on as the first new member in the revitalized category.